7. o v/V <-b 



^ <'^% ^ 



-- 



> 



V 



1 • o 



,v 



,0 



;r- 






V 






■4, 



<y 



jP-^K 









*** 



u 



o 
o 



y"v 



<" 



"V ,</ * ( 



.<£- •» 7;-.. 






.* 



^ 



'o . » 









°* 






:1 



A\ 



'+■ 



> 



^ 



,v 






^ 



^ 






/" V" 








*£* A> 




r*2Pn 






r ^4sAi 


^fetf* « f\ 




** *~^S//I 







o 
o 



z£ 



IS 



^9 • • s A * 



J 









v.* 






v^ •$» 



^* 



o"°, *b. 




■^ 










„ O J 






°o 



4 



■-■ 









v-cr 




















^ 



I* * " ^ 

-v -V- 



4 o 







.V 






>> * A 



^ 












i 



V 









,^ 















<£■ 






.'■ 






^ 

^ 






-:■ 



,4 O, 






.0 



^ 






vT 







-y9 V 






- 












V 






-r«^> . 



£ 



°o 



'«i. 



0' * 

• 



iD 1 




°^ 



< . . s 






' 



T/-Q* 



/^v^\T*J 



O > 
<0 xy 



A" 



NT"V 















^JV*^<V t 




>* : w§ 



3JBU. 






Due to narrow inner margin, this 
volume has been sewn by our new 

Cleat Sewing method. 




</r*~+* 



J* 



^Cs7*^—~C^¥ 









-^ Z^ c^*~^/rCt^ /L<^ b*su~-*i*>*~- 







♦ — 







A^fc. 



•*V ( 7h-*-sfQ^ /c^v^^U^t-^ /7 <fac<^<iU< ; £Z *C 







/If 



A VETERAN OF 1812 



THE LIFE OF 



JAMES FITZGIBBON. 



BY 



MARY AGNES FITZGIBBON. 









TORONTO: 
WILLIAM BRIGGS, 

WESLEY BUILDINGS. 

C W. Coates, Montreal. S. F. Huestis, Halifax. 

1894 



COLES CANADIANA COLLECTION 




Originally published in 1894 
in Toronto, Canada 
by William Briggs 



E 3 

.Fs. 
it 



&\ 



Facsimile edition reprinted 

by COLES PUBLISHING COMPANY, Toronto 

© Copyright 1970. 



TO 

Gbe /HMlttia of Canada 



AND TO 



XEbe Descendants of tbe /Iben of 1812*14, 

THIS BOOK 
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



The collection of notes for the life story of "A Veteran 
of 1812" was suggested to me some three years ago by 
the enquiries of Mr. Edwards, late editor of the Dominion 
Illustrated, who was then anxious to devote a portion of 
the columns of that paper to the record of men who had 
been more or less prominent in Canadian history. 

I began with a handful of private letters, a brief epi- 
tome of his services, and the cherished recollections of my 
childhood — stories, told us in the nursery, of the soldier 
and his early life in Canada. After spending some months 
in Ireland, visiting what my friends called " the cradle of 
the race," I devoted long hours to patient research in the 
Archives at Ottawa, and with the kind help of friends 
who had valued FitzGibbon's correspondence sufficiently 
to preserve his letters, T have not only been enabled to 
verify these early traditions, but have accumulated suffi- 
cient material to put together a fairly consecutive bio- 
graphy of a man who lived through one of the most 
interesting periods of our history. 

He was one whose personality was sufficiently pro- 
nounced, and whose courage, integrity and singleness of 
purpose were strong enough to leave an impression on 
his time. " One," to quote from a letter addressed to Lord 
Stanley, then Secretary for the Colonies (July 2nd, 1842), 



PREFACE. 

by Sir Augustus d'Este, " whose happy destiny it was to 
have the opportunity of rendering important services to 
his adopted country, which services will cause his name to 
be remembered with respect and admiration by the loyal 
inhabitants of Upper Canada as long as devotion to the 
parent state, manly valor and clear-sighted intelligence 
are admitted to be entitled to places in the catalogue of 
estimable qualities." 

The fac-simile of FitzGibbon's handwriting given on the 
page facing the frontispiece is taken from a postscript to 
one of his many letters to his young nephew Gerald 
FitzGibbon. 

Whether the sentiment it expresses is original or from 
one or other of his favorite authors, I have no means of 
ascertaining. It is, however, so indicative of his life and 
character, so evidently one of which he had proved the 
value, that it is worth preserving and reproducing as the 
text of his faith. 

My thanks are due to the Right Honorable Gerald Fitz- 
Gibbon, Lord Justice of the Court of Appeal in Ireland ; 
to D. B. Read, Esq., Q.C., author of the "Lives of the 
Judges," and other works; to Ernest Cruikshank, Esq., 
author of "Butler's Rangers," the "Battle of the Beech- 
woods," etc., etc. ; to E. B. Biggar, Esq., whose graphic 
account of the battle of Stony Creek led to my applying 
to him ; to Charles Lindsey, Esq., William Lyon Mac- 
kenzie's able biographer, and to J. H. Land, Esq., the 
secretary of the Wentworth Historical Society, for the 
kindly assistance they have given me, either personally or 
through their works, in accomplishing the " labor of love " 
I have undertaken. 



PREFACE. 

I am indebted also to J. Ross Robertson, Esq., the 
enthusiastic Past Grand Master of the Freemasons of 
Ontario, for much of that portion of the book relating to 
FitzGibbon's life as a Mason; also to the kindness of 
Murray Jarvis, Esq., of Ottawa, for valuable extracts 
from unedited letters now in his possession, as well as to 
many friends and well-wishers for aid and encouragement 
in prosecuting the researches necessary in order to find 
what one of them aptly designated, "the hinges of my 
narrative." 

If, owing to inferior workmanship, these "hinges'" 
creak, may I hope that an indulgent public will, in their 
interest in the man, overlook the faults of his biographer. 

For the rest, I may add that I have had the book 
published in Canada rather than in England, preferring 
it should first see the light in the city whose loyalty and 
homes he had guarded with so jealous an arm in life, and 
to which his last conscious thoughts turned in the hour 

of death. 

M. A. F.G. 

Toronto, May 24th, 1894. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Birthplace — Its associations — Early recollections — His first 
salmon — Religious impressions — Enrolment in the Yeo- 
manry — Hated Englishmen — The Devon and Cornwall 
Fencibles — The Knight of Glin — A bold step — Unex- 
pected promotion — The Tarbert Fencibles — Leaving 
home — A mother's anxiety — A promise 9 

CHAPTER H. 

Major-General Whitelock — An extravagant speech — An im- 
portant step — Bareham Downs — Embarkation for Hol- 
land — The Helder — Youthful ideas of battle — A gap in 
the narrative — Egmont- op-Zee — Taken prisoner — French 
"ruffles and rags" — Distressing march — Improving the 
time — Exchange of prisoners — Military discipline — Re- 
cruiting — A providential find 21 

CHAPTER III. 

Horsham Barracks — Sudden orders — Conflicting rumors 
— Arrival at Spithead — The St. George — The Monarch — 
Copenhagen — Lord Nelson — The battle — The Vice-Ad- 
miral's flag — Unjust rebuke — An angry officer — Service 
in the ranks — Return to England — Colonel Brock — An 
explanation — A soldier's opinion 36 

CHAPTER IV. 

Winter-quarters — An alarming deficiency — A romantic appli- 
cation — The Duke of York — An interview with Colonel 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGB 



Brownrigg — The theatre — John Kemble and Mrs. Sid- 
dons — Colonel Brock's kindness — Ordered to Canada — A 
studious soldier — Brock's "favorite Sergeant-Major" — 
Deserters — Midnight chase — Inhuman treatment — The 
mutiny — A dramatic arrest — A court-martial — A bar- 
rack-room university — Fears of invasion — "Did you 
try?" — The Glengarry Fencibles— Colonel Brock's letter 
— A request 46 

CHAPTER V. 

Declaration of war — By bateaux up the St. Lawrence— At- 
tempt to intercept— Defeat of the Americans -A winter 
drive — An advance post — A daring capture— Carrying 
despatches — Fall of Fort George — Retreat — An excited 
Irishman — A spy— The battle of Stony Creek — A sepa- 
rate command— The "Green Tigers" — A bold stratagem 
— A struggle — A brave woman — Desultory warfare — An 
unsatisfactory check — Orders from American headquar- 
ters — Beaver Dam — Chief Kerr's letter — Laura Secord — 
"Big Knives" — Indian tactics — A bold summons — 
Negotiations — An unwelcome arrival — A bombastic 
speech — A soldier's courtesy — Articles of capitulation — 
Official despatches — Lieut. -Col. Bisshopp's letter — A 
wrong impression — Return of prisoners taken — Letter 
from Colonel Bcerstler to General Dearborn — Effect of 
the capture 63 

CHAPTER VI. 

A meagre reward — Attack on Fort Schlosser— Black Rock — 
An indignant officer — Imprudent delay — A gallant res- 
cue — Death of Colonel Bisshopp — Suffering soldiers — 
Defective commissariat — Projected attack on Fort Niag- 
ara — The pickets at Fort George driven in — Tidings of 
General Proctor's defeat— A retreat — .Close of the cam- 
paign—Departure of the 49th 104 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER VII. 

PAGE 

Campaign of 1814 — The Glengarry Fencibles at Oswego — 
Weakened forts — Reconnoitring — The battle of Lundy's 
Lane — A request for leave — Personal courage — A roman- 
tic marriage — The camp before Fort Erie — A sortie — 
Glengarry men to the front — Hard fighting — A change 
of camp — Advance of the enemy — Cook's Mills — Retreat 
of the enemy — Evacuation of Fort Erie — Close of the 
war — Sir John Harvey's letter 119 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Disbanding of the Glengarry Regiment — A hopeful outlook — 
Civil appointments — Assistant Adjutant-General — Ma- 
sonic honors — A manly letter — A good character — Pre- 
sentation of colors — Irish riots — An influential mediator 
— Address to the Orangemen — Extracts from the Times 
— Lord Castlereagh's opinion — A sad quarrel — Press riot 
— A subscription list — Colonel of 2nd West York Regi- 
ment — Incipient rebellion — A stormy meeting — Extract 
from Mr. Lindsey's "Life of W. L. Mackenzie" — Street 
riots — A summary arrest — Quiet restored — Reminiscences 
of an old U. C. College boy— Toronto in 1832— The 
cholera— A faithful soldier — Orange processions — More 
riots — Mrs. Jamieson's recollections — A race to college — 
Definition of a gentleman — Toronto's first Mayor — Meet- 
ing in the market-place — An accident — Parental sorrow 
and counsels — Disturbances near Cornwall — The house 
on Queen Street — Sir John Colborne's letter .... 139 

CHAPTER IX. 

An eventful year — Reform — A nation of liars — An obstinate 
governor — Military cadets — Threatened rebellion — Fitz- 
Gibbon vs. Sir Francis — An offer — Precautionary meas- 
ures — The Chief- Justice — A generous letter— Secret 
information — A tardy order — An irrepressible defender 
— Vice-regal slumbers disturbed — The outbreak — A well- 
armed governor— Pickets on Yonge Street — Arrival of 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Colonel Macnab — Irritating delays — A rough plan of 
attack — A curious scene — Defeat of the rebels — Burning 
of Gibson's house — Regrets — Resignation — Incorrect 
statement 184 

CHAPTER X. 

Public recognition — The address — The Governor's letter — 
A disappointing message — A visit to England — Invita- 
tion to Guernsey — Sir Augustus d'Este — His sword — 
Return to Toronto — Discussion in the House — Lord 
Seaton's letter — Death of Mrs. FitzGibbon — Removal to 
Kingston — A struggling artist — Sir Charles Bagot's ad- 
vocacy — Sir Charles Metcalfe — A tardy settlement — 
Retirement — Failing health 231 

CHAPTER XL 

Residence in Belleville — Blessings of a quiet neighborhood — 
Letter from Lady Simpson — Return to England — Cheap 
living — Harriet Martineau — Miss Murray — Elizabeth 
Strickland — Federation foretold — Writing for the Home 
Circle — George Combe's interest — Military Knight of 
Windsor — Life in the Castle — Frogmore Park — The 
Great Exhibition — Agnes Strickland — Relief from debt 
— Bereavements — A remarkable dream 258 

CHAPTER XII. 

Energetic old age — Contributions to the press — A sailor's 
"Pen yarn" — Opinion on the Indian Mutiny — Night 
schools — Letter to Walter Mackenzie — Reminiscences of 
the Rebellion — Good advice — Remarks on the Crimean 
war — European politics — An anecdote of 1813— A letter 
of introduction — The Knights' case — Sinners vs. Saints 
— The Knights' votes — French invasion scare — An un- 
daunted spirit — Longing for Canada— Closing scenes . 281 

Chapter XIII 307 

Appendices 339 

Notes 391 



A VETERAN OF 1812. 



P v O 




CHAPTEK I. 

N the 16th of November, 1780, in the little 

village on the south bank of the Shannon 

immortalized by Gerald Griffin's graphic pen 

and the sad story of the Colleen Bawn,* was born 

the lad whose after life was destined to be more 

eventful than generally falls to a soldier's lot. 

The square stone house, then forming three sides of 
a paved court-yard, is now a heap of ruins. Ivy 
drapes the roofless walls; the barred doorway through 
which the faithful Danny-man went in and out about 
his work attending to his master's horses, is gone ; a 
pile of loose stones and weed-choked crevices alone 
mark the spot, but the little brook still winds its way 
in tiny leaps and bounds down the steep hillside — 
still ripples over its stony bed, widening as it reaches 
the foot of the old grey tower of the ruined castle of 
the Knights of Glin, and under the high-arched bridge 

* Colleen Bawn, a dramatic adaptation of Gerald Griffin's novel, 

"The Collegians." 



10 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

to the broad river below, as merrily at the end of the 
nineteenth as during the latter years of the eighteenth 

century. 

In some of the family letters extant, James Fitz- 
Gibbon's descent is spoken of as being in the direct 
line from the White Knight, but I have no positive 
knowledge of the family tree beyond the three pre- 
ceding generations. At the time of his birth, the 
property he d by his father was little more than the 
small fre hold and the old stone farm-house at Glin. 

His father and grandfather, both Geralds, were 
good classical scholars, and though James' early 
recollections of his childhood are of the village school 
where Ned FitzGerald dispensed learning to the lads 
of the village and neighboring district, his education 
was not by any means entirely dependent upon that 
pedagogue. James owed much to his maternal grand- 
mother, who must have been a superior woman, 
much looked up to, loved and honored by her sons. 
His mother was a Wyndham, a name well known in 
Jacobite annals in the '45. In after years, when a 
member of the Highland Society, James often de- 
clared his claim to election should be derived from 
his maternal grandfather's connection with the " true 
men " of that day, he having only escaped attainder 
and loss of property through arriving too late to take 
part in the battle of Culloden. 

James was the second son. Of his elder brother, 
John, we hear little. He died unmarried at the age 
of nineteen. The third son, Gerald, afterwards was 



EARLY RECOLLECTIONS. 11 

the well-known Irish Master in Chancery, and father 
of the present Lord Justice FitzGibbon. Thomas and 
Henry, the latter father of the present Judge and 
Recorder of Belfast, and three sisters. These made 
up the home-circle at Glin. 

Gerald Griffin drew his character of Danny-man in 
"The Collegians" from the hunch-backed stable-boy 
at the stone house, and that of Lowry Looby from 
another of the family retainers, who followed their 
fortunes when they moved to Prospect Lodge, near 
Limerick. 

" The earliest recollection of my childhood," writes 
James, " was that of a bird being brought me by one 
of the laboring men. The eagerness with which I 
grasped it, my delight in the bright eye and beautiful 
plumage, made a lasting impression, never forgotten 
in after life. Again, sometime later — one of those 
landmarks of childhood's memories, which stand out 
like mile-stones by the roadside — one of the men took 
me with him in his cart to a distant farm. The way 
lay over a neighboring hill. Turning to look behind 
me as we reached the summit, I was filled with sur- 
prise and awe at the vast extent of land and water 
spread so far below me. It was a mild, beautiful, but 
cloudy autumn day. The broad Shannon, the distant 
hills beyond, melting, as it were,* into the soft grey 
sky, roused a hitherto unknown sensation. I felt as 
if my body and spirit were alike swelling into a vast 
magnitude. The delight of perception, the sense of 
the beautiful, the dawning knowledge of the greatness 



12 A VETEUAN OF 1812. 

and grandeur of nature, and the dimly conscious, 
although unrealized, sense of the spirit to feel it, was 
a revelation to me. 

" The first book I ever read, and which forms my 
only recollection of my first reading, was the ' History 
of Troy's Destruction.' I yet well remember the 
difficulty in understanding the first few pages. I 
read, or rather spelled, it over and over, until I be- 
lieved I understood it. It was a small volume of not 
more than forty or fifty pages. I had no other book 
except my spelling book, and I read it again and 
again. It contained four prints, of Agamemnon, 
Achilles, Hector, and Penthesilea, to me objects of 
great wonder and admiration. I found incidents in 
it at the second perusal which, in my ignorance, I 
thought had, by some miracle, been inserted since my 
first reading. I kept my little book hidden away 
from others, and read it to pieces unaided by any 
explanations. 

" In those days the only books sold in the village 
shops, beside the 'Primer Spelling Book' and the 
'Child's New Plaything,' were such as 'The Seven Wise 
Masters of Greece,' 'The Seven Champions of Christen- 
dom/ 'The History of the White Knight,' 'Parismus 
and Parismenus,' 'The Arabian Nights' Entertainment,' 
and a few others of the like character. I soon gained 
the reputation of being the greatest reader in the 
school. I found a new world opening before me, and 
looked with avidity for a new book. The boys from 
the neighboring farms and mountains came to me to 



HIS FIRST SALMON. 13 

help them to select one whenever they had the money 
to purchase it, and I, with childish wisdom, invariably 
chose one hitherto unknown to me, that I might 
borrow and read it, too. Thus in time I read every 
book brought into the school or possessed by my com- 
panions, often incurring the schoolmaster's displeasure 
by absenting myself from school to lie under the 
hedge and read a tale so absorbing as to render me 
forgetful of all else. 

"At eleven years of age, I was taken from school to 
help my father and elder brother on the farm and in 
carrying on a small branch of the linen manufacture. 
I read the ' History of Telemachus,' by candle light 
during the long winter evenings, my father pointing 
out to me the derivations of the words, and rousing 
an intense interest in the connection between the 
Latin and English languages and my first attempts 
at the construction of sentences. I used to save and 
hoard the candle ends that I might pursue my 
unaided studies when the household were asleep." 

James was as fond of out-door life as other boys. 
He always retained an affection for the yellow wall- 
flower, as it reminded him of the bright blossoms he 
had climbed the old stone tower of Glin to gather 
when little more than a baby. He describes, with a 
keen sense of pleasure in the excitement, his delight 
in his first salmon. 

" I was paddling barefoot in the brook which ran 
down through the meadows and round the foot of 
the castle, when I spied a fine salmon 'lurking under 



14 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

a big stone. To climb down round the boulder and 
make a grab at him was the work of a moment. I 
did not catch him, but the startled leap he gave cast 
him at the very edge of the brook ; I flung myself 
bodily upon him and caught him by the gills. After 
a hard fight I dragged him up on the bank, gaffed 
him with a rusty old knife, and carried him home in 
triumph. I have no recollection of his weight, but 
remember his length was more than I could lift from 
the ground — although I was a tall boy for eight years 
— but trailed his shining body along the grass." 

Of his early religious impressions the first mention 
among his papers shows, also, the dawning reasoning 
faculties and clear judgment which were afterwards 
his strongest characteristics. 

" One day, while working in the field, my attention 
was drawn to the conversation between the hired 
laborers on the subject of the Protestants and English- 
men and their religion. 

" I already knew that Protestants and Englishmen 
were disliked, nay, hated, as the Irish had but one 
word in their language to express either. I knew no 
Protestants (all in the village were Roman Catholics), 
and I knew that, could they do so with impunity, 
few among these men would hesitate to take the life 
of a Protestant, 

" ' Why do you hate the Protestants V I asked. 

" ' Because they are heretics and go to hell.' 

" To this reply I made no answer, but thought, 
' Surely you ought rather to pity them — blame them 



HIS FIRST TESTAMENT. 15 

— for being such fools as to live in this world for 
seventy-five years as Protestants only to be sent to 
hell for seventy-five million.' 

" My mind dwelt long- on what I thought was the 
unaccountable insensibility of these Protestants. In 
those days, about the year 1790, the judges going to 
the circuit were escorted and guarded by a troop of 
mounted men bearing halberds and pikes. A trum- 
peter rode in advance, and upon approaching a village 
sounded his trumpet. 

"This procession was to us boys a splendid spectacle, 
and looked for every half year with lively anticipa- 
tion. When I learned that these judges were Protes- 
tants, my surprise was great. That men so wise as 
they must be could so disregard their future salvation 
for any present wealth or power seemed incredible, 
and the information that the king, who in my childish 
faith, must of necessity be the wisest man living, was 
also a Protestant, filled me with amazement. It was 
about this period that I read for the first time the 
parable of the good Samaritan, and, though ignorant 
that the Jews hated the Samaritans, the conviction 
was impressed upon me that the Catholics were 
wrong, and by hating their neighbors were not fol- 
lowing the teaching of our Saviour. This was the 
first doubt raised in my mind of the infallibility of 
my teachers." 

The boy's anxiety for new books had by chance put 
him in brief possession of a New Testament. He 
purchased it from a travelling pedlar, who probably 



16 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

was very glad to find a customer for such unsalable 
stock in that part of the world. 

James crept under the hedge with his treasure, and 
was soon absorbed in the wonderful story. 

Here he was discovered by the parish priest, who, 
spying the boy and curious to know what study he 
was so deeply immersed in, accosted him. Unfortu- 
nately I cannot find any detailed account of the dis- 
cussion between them over the right of the parishioner 
as well as the priest to the privilege of reading the 
Bible for themselves, but I have heard those who had 
the story from FitzGibbon say, that " he got the best 
of the priest in the argument, but the priest got the 
better of the boy in size, for the Testament was 
forcibly confiscated, but what he had read was in- 
delibly fixed in his memory." 

Some years afterwards, about 1795 or 1796, the 
people of Ireland were called to arms and formed 
into yeomanry corps to defend the country against 
the threatened invasion of France. 

" My father enrolled his own, his eldest son's and 
my name, although I was only fifteen. With the 
military bias already given to my mind by my early 
reading, this excited me very much. On entering the 
corps each had to take the oath of allegiance, part of 
which contained the following words : ' And I do 
further swear that I do not believe that any Pope, 
Priest or Bishop has power to forgive sins.' 

" My father, my brother and I took the oath with- 
out hesitation, as did many others, but many refused. 



HATED ENGLISHMEN. 17 

" On the following Sunday the priest proclaimed 
from the altar that all might take the oath, as it was 
only upon condition of confession and repentance 
that the priest could absolve the sinner. 

" Some time after the yeomanry corps were raised, 
the French fleet, with a large land force on board in- 
tended for the invasion of Ireland, anchored in Bantry 
Bay. Troops were sent, for the first time in the cen- 
tury, into that remote part of Ireland, and the first 
regiment that appeared in our village was the Devon 
and Cornwall Fencibles. We had thus an opportunity 
of encountering the 'hated Englishmen' — hated to the 
extent of a proverb, of which the literal translation 
is, 'An Englishman is not more hateful to me than 
thou art.' 

" A sergeant and two privates presented their billet 
at my father's door and were admitted, not only 
rooms but meals also being provided for them. Their 
quiet behavior, their gratitude for my father's kind- 
ness and hospitality, astonished me. Could these be 
the dreaded Englishmen ? My former fears were 
changed into admiration. 

" The sergeant often spent an hour or two in the 
evening drilling us boys in the old stone-paved 
kitchen, and my military ambition and desire to be 
one day a soldier was fanned into a flame. 

" A storm driving the French fleet to sea again, it 
was feared their coming to Bantry Bay was but a 
feint to draw off our troops from the north, where 
they meant to land without opposition. 



18 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

" Iii the uncertainty the troops were marched and 
counter-marched from one place to another, and the 
Fencibles often again passed through or were quar- 
tered in our village. Our former hatred became 
friendship and liking; no one of our own militia 
regiments were greater favorites with us than these 
English soldiers. 

" About this time the corporal who drilled the yeo- 
manry corps to which I belonged, was ordered to 
join his regiment, and we were without a teacher. 
Our captain, the Knight of Glin, who had hitherto 
been in England, returned soon after the corporal's 
departure. The first time he inspected us in the field, 
he attempted to put us through our exercises. He 
gave orders of which we knew nothing. Not having 
learned the new system ordered for the instruction of 
the army in 1792, he was following the one acquired 
with the volunteers at the close of the American war. 
In striving to obey him, we fell into confusion and 
disorder. He flew into a violent passion and swore 
roundly at us, declaring, with an oath, that if he had 
the ' scoundrel ' who had drilled us within reach, he 
would 'cleave his flesh from his bones with his sabre.' 

"A good landlord, an excellent and just magistrate, 
to whose active exertions we were indebted for the 
peace of the surrounding country during the rebellion 
of 1798, the knight was yet a hot-tempered man, 
whose rage sometimes found expression in hard blows 
as well as in words. His language was so offensive 
on this occasion that, unable to endure it longer, I 



A BOLD STEP. 19 

stepped out from the ranks and said : ' The men are 
not to blame, sir. You are giving us words of com- 
mand we have never heard. . The man who drilled us 
was a good teacher, and were he here, he could make 
us appear to greater advantage.' 

" For a moment I thought my bold words would 
bring the knight's wrath upon my head, but, reflect- 
ing that my father was a freeholder and no man's 
tenant, though inwardly quaking I stood my ground. 

"After a pause, probably of astonishment at my 
daring, he asked if there was anyone there who 
could put the men through their exercises. Upon 
my replying that I did not know, he asked me to 
show him what they could do. I did the best I could, 
and the men did well. He then desired me to go on 
drilling them until he could procure another instructor 
from the army. A sergeant and twenty men were soon 
after added to the corps, and, on returning from my 
work some days later, I found a sergeant's pike, 
sword and sash sent to me with an order appointing 
me sergeant. Thus was I, at the age of seventeen, 
promoted over my father and elder brother. What 
wonder that my boyish enthusiasm was greatly in- 
creased by such unexpected honor." 

In 1798, the first lieutenant of the corps obtained 
a company in the Tarbert Fencibles, then being raised 
by Sir Edward Leslie, and James was easily per- 
suaded to join him ; an additional inducement being 
offered in the promised appointment of pay-sergeant 
to the company. 



20 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

The Tarbert Fencibles were soon afterwards sent to 
England to do garrison duty in the room of the 
regulars required in Holland. 

Before leaving home reiterated promises were ex- 
torted, both from the boy and his captain, that he 
should not, on any account, be induced or permitted 
to enlist for active service abroad. His mother's 
fears, prompted by the boy's well-known bias, took 
this precaution to ensure his return before she would 
consent to his departure. Much, however, as the lad 
loved soldiering, there was a stronger deterrent to his 
taking the Queen's shilling than even his mother's 
fears or his captain's promise to bring him back in 
safety to his native village. 

Corporal punishment was at that time inflicted in 
the army for the most trifling offences, and the reports 
of the sufferings of the men under it had so excited 
his indignation that FitzGibbon believed no persua- 
sions could ever induce him to put himself voluntarily 
in a position to run the risk of incurring such degra- 
dation. 



THE TARBERT FENC1BLES. 21 



CHAPTEE II. 

N the 9th of June, 1799, Major-General White- 




lock arrived at Poole, in Dorsetshire, where 

the Tarbert Fencibles were then quartered, 

authorized to recruit non-commissioned officers and 

men from its ranks for active service in the army 

awaiting embarkation for the invasion of Holland. 

Before leaving his quarters, FitzGibbon received a 
hasty visit from Captain Creagh. He came to remind 
him once more of the many promises he had made to 
bring him back to Ireland, and added, " If you are 
firm in your refusal to volunteer for active service, 
I'll take you with me to Ireland, where I hear I'm to 
be sent shortly on recruiting duty." 

FitzGibbon assured him he had no intention or 
desire to volunteer, so he might make his mind easy 
on that score. 

An hour afterwards the sergeants were paraded in 
the barrack-yard to be addressed by the general. 
He spoke at considerable length, saying, among other 
things, that " as the enemy would not come to fight 
us, it was determined by the Government that we 
should go and fight them;" that he "was quite confi- 
dent we would rather go and fight for our king and 
country than remain at home walking the streets of 
Poole with powdered heads;" and, in short, that he 



22 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

"expected to see us in a few months' time up to our 
knees in French blood." 

Little as he knew of the world, this speech sounded 
an extravagant one to FitzGibbon. His position 
placed him directly opposite to where the general 
stood. His evident interest attracted that officer's 
attention, and he repeatedly addressed him directly, 
asking if he understood what he said 

The sergeants were then dismissed to join their 
companies. 

After parade the regiment was formed into a hollow 
square, when the general addressed the men, much in 
the same strain as he had used with the sergeants, 
desiring those who wished to volunteer to step out of 
their ranks into the centre ; and going from company 
to company he urged the men individually to do so. 
Upon reaching FitzGibbon's, he expressed surprise at 
seeing him still in the ranks. 

" I thought you would be one of the first to vol- 
unteer." 

" I am determined not to volunteer, sir," replied the 
soldier. 

" And why should a young man of your appearance 
not seize so glorious an opportunity of pushing his 
fortunes in the service of his king and country ?" 

" Because, sir, I am not willing to spend all my life 
as a private soldier, nor as a non-commissioned officer, 
and from the little I have seen of the army, I have no 
hope of obtaining a commission without money or 
friends." 



AN IMPORTANT STEP — A VOW. 23 

" Can you write ? ' asked the general. 

" Certainly he can, very well," answered Captain 
Creagh for him, and idded some kindly expressions 
commending the lad's diligence and knowledge of his 
drill. 

" Why, then," said the general, " I will be the first 
to recommend you." 

" You will not, sir," replied the boy, with youthful 
conviction as well as priggishness, " venture to recom- 
mend me until you know if I be qualified to hold a 
commission, which I am now convinced I am not." 

" All this," replied the general, " only tends to 
convince me that you are, or very soon will be." 

But FitzGibbon was still determined. The general 
turned and went along the ranks, urging the men. 
At length, in answer to his representations of the 
many advantages to be derived from active service, a 
number replied that if FitzGibbon would volunteer 
they would. 

" What w T as I to do?" FitzGibbon often asked when 
telling the story in after years. "I must either forget 
my promises, my fears, silence my doubts, or brand 
myself forever a coward, not only in the eyes of my 
comrades but in my own." 

He assented, and carried forty men with him into 
the ranks of the English army. 

The step was taken and could not be retraced, but 
with a mentally registered vow that if it should ever 
be his fate to incur a sentence to the infliction of the 



21 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

lash, justly or unjustly, he would take his own life 
rather than suffer such degradation. 

FitzGibbon joined the army under Sir Ralph Aber- 
crombie, then encamped on Bareham Downs, and on 
August 6th, 1799, he was draughted into the 49th, 
with the rank of sergeant. On the following morning 
they were marched to the coast, and embarked at the 
neighboring seaport. 

The fleet with the transports put to sea on the 
12th. Bad weather prevented the vessels approach- 
ing the coast of Holland until the 26th, when they 
anchored near the Helder. The troops were landed 
on the 27th, but here Ave may quote FitzGibbon's 
own words : 

"The flat boats in which we were sent from the 
transports moved off for the shore in the grey light 
of early day. Our mortar ships had been throwing 
bombs to the shore for a short time before. The 
distance, however, was so considerable that I did not 
think they could do much execution. My early 
studies in Greek and Roman history had given me 
an exaggerated idea of heroism, bravery and battle, 
and I fully expected to find the French battalions 
drawn up in battle array upon the beach, ready to 
greet us with a volley the moment we were within 
range, and, as our boats touched the shore, to oppose 
our landing in a fierce hand-to-hand conflict. 

"As we approached, and the light increased, I could 
see five dark lines to our right, moving down upon 
us, as I expected, to oppose our landing, but upon 



LANDING AT THE HELDEIi. 25 

nearer approach I could distinguish their scarlet uni- 
forms. They were in fact the five British regiments 
landed some distance to our right, and which as yet 
had met with no resistance. Were the French so 
deficient in courage, I wondered, as not to make the 
most of such evident advantages ? 

" The low line of sand-hills opposite our landing 
place was lined with troops. A volley was fired upon 
us as we jumped -ashore. The regiments already 
landed charged up the hill and drove the enemy back 
at the point of the bayonet, while we landed without 
further molestation. 

"After fifty years of life, and having had some 
experience of warfare, 1 am convinced my boyish 
opinion was the correct one. Had the enemy realized 
my expectation and opposed our landing in earnest, 
the boats must have been destroyed or captured. To 
know the value or force of fear upon the human mind 
is one of the most important qualifications for a 
commander to possess, second only to the power of 
banishing fear from his own ranks and driving it 
before him into the ranks of the enemy. The officer 
who has not this power will never be distinguished 
from the herd of ordinary men, and should never be 
entrusted with a separate command. 

"The brigade to which I belonged, Sir John Moore's, 

was marched to the left, towards the Helcler, where 

we found no enemy. All the fighting was on our 

right, where our men drove the enemy back into the 

country." 
2 



2G A VETERAN OF 1812. 

There is a gap here in FitzGibbon's narrative from 
August 27th to October 2nd. During that period the 
Duke of York had joined the army and assumed the 
command. 

" Long before day on the morning of the 2nd of 
October, the Russian and British forces advanced to 
attack the French posted in the sand-hills on the 
coast near Egmont-op-Zee. The column to which the 
49th belonged advanced along the beach, having the 
sand-hills to the right, the rolling sea in close prox- 
imity on our left. About eight o'clock the advance 
commenced skirmishing, and the column was halted. 
Several of the officers ran up a few paces on the sides 
of the hills to snatch a view of our troops on the 
level beach. I followed their example. Eighteen 
thousand men were on the plain before me. The 
long lines of cavalry and artillery deploying to their 
several positions, the life and stir of coming battle 
surprised and filled me with delight. I had dreamed 
of deeds of bravery, of fierce single combats, but now 
that the battle was imminent, I was surprised to find 
that I was not nearly so brave as I had imagined 
myself. 

" The first man I saw killed was a fine handsome 
young ensign, a lieutenant of grenadiers, who had 
volunteered from the South Middlesex militia to the 
line, still wearing the uniform of his late regiment. 
He carried one of the regimental colors, and was one 
of the finest-looking men I had ever seen. I stood 
for a moment to look upon him as he fell, and thought 



BATTLE OF EGMONT-OP-ZEE. 27 

sadly of the young wife he had left to mourn his 
untimely end. It was but a moment. I had to run 
on to keep pace with my company and find myself in 
the midst of a great battle. I was a supernumerary 
sergeant ; I had no definite duties or position, nothing 
to do but look about me. My preconceived ideas of 
the discipline of the regular army were soon dissi- 
pated. The nature of the ground, the confusion and 
apparent hastiness of the officers served to cause 
disorder, and I thought, ' Surely the French must be 
better soldiers than we are.' " 

FitzGibbon had evidently mentioned Colonel Brock 
in the missing leaf of his reminiscences, as the follow- 
ing paragraph indicates : 

" After the deployment of the 49th on the sand- 
hills, I saw no more of Lieut.-Colonel Brock, being 
separated from him with that part of the regiment 
detached under Lieut.-Colonel Sheaffe. Soon after 
we commenced firing upon the enemy, and at inter- 
vals rushing from one line of sand-hills to another 
— behind which the soldiers were made to shelter 
themselves and fire over their summits — I saw, at 
some distance to my right, Savery Brock, the pay- 
master, passing from the top of one sand-hill to 
another, directing and encouraging the men. He 
alone kept continually on the tops of the hills during 
the firing, and at every advance from one range to 
another he led the men, and again was seen above the 
others. Not doubting but that great numbers of the 
French soldiers would be continually firing at him — a 



2S A VETERAN OF 1812. 

large man so exposed — I watched from moment to 
moment to see him fall, but for about two hours 
while in my view he remained untouched. 

" After witnessing Savery Brock's conduct, I deter- 
mined to be the first to advance every time at the 
head of those around me, and I soon saw that of 
those who were most prompt to follow me, fewer fell 
by the enemy's fire than I witnessed falling of those 
more in our rear. 

" Still we advanced, and the French retreated from 
one rang-e of sand-hills to the next. About five 
o'clock I was well on in advance, when, on the oppo- 
site side of a valley facing us, we saw dragoons in 
green advancing toward us. Believing them to be 
Eussians who were moving against the enemy on the 
other side of the hills, a cry was raised to 'cease 
firing.' The moment the cry was obeyed, a body of 
French infantry issued from a cops.e in the valley 
and charged up the hill toward us. We opened fire 
instantly, but instead of retreating they advanced, 
their officers waving their hats and swords as if 
desirous of holding a parley with us. Upon this 
someone cried they were Dutch troops who wished 
to join us as three battalions had done a few days 
before. Again we ceased firing. Our officers ad- 
vanced to meet theirs. While we waited I formed 
the men, about a hundred in all. Presently one of 
my men, without orders, presented his musket. I 
tossed it up with my pike, and declared I ' would 
shoot anv man who dared to fire without orders;' 



TAKEN PRI ONER. 20 

then, turning to learn the cause of the man's action, 
I saw five of the enemy approaching. Believing they 
meant to surrender, I went to meet them ; I disarmed 
two, throwing their muskets on the ground, but in a 
moment my pike was wrenched from my hold and I 
was seized by the collar. Struggling to free myself, 
I found two bayonets at my back. My men fired. 
The Frenchman at my right fell, but in an instant I 
was dragged over the hill. There they halted and 
searched me. One drew my sword and threw it far 
from me with an oath. Another took my sash and 
wound it around his own waist. Two contended for 
my great coat and nearly dislocated my shoulders in 
their struggle for it. Then my coat and waistcoat 
were pulled off in order that they might get at my 
shirts, a flannel and a linen one, for I never could 
endure the flannel next my skin. They had the 
flannel one when a dragoon galloped up, snatched 
my waistcoat from the infantry and drove them off'. 
Possessing himself of what money was left in the 
pocket, he flung it back to me and bade me dress 
myself. He then gave me in charge of another dra- 
goon, who seized my left wrist in his right hand and 
trotted down the hill to where the dragoons were 
drawn up. 

" All this could not have occupied more than three 
or four minutes. While my captor trotted down the 
slope, we were met by another dragoon who, as he 
passed me, brought up the hilt of his sword to his 
ear and gave point at me. Fortunately I had learned 



30 A VLTERAN OF 1812. 

the sword exercise and was able to parry his thrust. 
He rode on as if indifferent whether he hit me or not. 
The man who held me swore roundly at him, and 
instead of ascending the hill turned sharply to the 
left, and followed the valley until we were quite in 
the rear of the French lines. He then released me 
from his hold. 

" If I had had extravagant ideas of the glories to be 
won in battle, I had also of the fate of prisoners of 
war. I had recently read the memoirs of Baron 
Trenck, and expected nothing less than confinement 
in a dungeon with sixty pounds of iron about my 
neck and limbs. 

" The approach of another prisoner, an old sergeant 
of the 49th, who had seen service in the West Indies, 
was a relief to my mind. We soon after entered a 
wood, where the dragoon ordered us to be searched. 
Alas, my fine linen shirt pleased him, and I was 
ordered to give it up. When I hesitated my fellow- 
prisoner advised me to obey, adding, "A soldier of 
the 92nd, who was taken with me, refused to give up 
his canteen and a murderous Frenchman shot him 
through the back." 

" The dragoon gave me a shirt from his saddle-bag 
in exchange. It was coarse as a barrack sheet and 
nearly worn out. It was, however, clean from the 
wash, and had ruffles to the wristbands as well as the 
usual frill to the front. I remembered a song my 
grandfather used to sing for me of ' French ruffles 



A DISTRESSING MARCH. 31 

and rags.' Now was I possessed of some to my no 
small discomfort and mortification. 

" While the exchange of garments was being made, 
Lieutenant Philpott and some grenadiers of the 35th 
were brought in. He stopped and asked me why 
they stripped me. Before I could reply, a French 
soldier struck him a blow from behind with the butt 
of his musket that made him stagger forward several 
paces before he could recover himself. 

" We were marched into Alkmaar and put into a 
church, where I slept on the flags from six till eight 
o'clock, when we were awakened, hurried out into the 
street and marched off under an escort. 

" I supposed we were to be lodged in some prison in 
the town, but to my surprise we soon left it behind 
us. Exhausted from fatigue, I dreaded a long night 
march. The dragoons of the escort frequently pushed 
their horses upon us. One of them plunged in among 
us, his horse dashing the man walking beside me to 
the ground, and striking me a violent blow in the side 
with his foot. To escape this danger I pushed on to 
the front and strained every nerve to keep in the 
advance. We were marched without halting to Bever- 
wick, a distance of eighteen miles. 

" This was the most distressing night of my life. I 
had already suffered so much from fatigue during 
our marches and countermarches since our landing at 
the Helder, as to make my life a burden to me. Fif- 
teen days later we reached Valenciennes, five officers 
and one hundred and seven men." (See Appendix I.) 



32 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

During this and the few weeks that intervened 
before the exchange of prisoners was effected, Fitz- 
Gibbon was not idle. He seized every opportunity 
within his reach of conversing with his French 
captors and learning as much of their language as 
possible. 

Among some odd scraps of letters and manuscripts, 
I find the following anecdote : 

" The exchanged prisoners of war were landed at 
Ramsgate from Flushing, in January, 1800. On the 
march to Beccles and Bungaye, where the 49th were 
then stationed, I was sent forward to have the billets 
ready for delivery to the men at the end of each day's 
march. On entering the inn at Witham, near Col- 
chester, a gentleman standing at the door asked me if 
I did not belong to the 49th ? Upon my replying 
that I did he said : 

" ' Why then are you in such a ragged and stained 
dress ? ' 

" ' I am returning from French prison, sir,' I replied. 

" ' Come in, come in here,' he said, and immediately 
ordered the waiter to bring breakfast and a glass of 
brandy for me. He was surprised when I declined 
the latter, as I never drank it. 

" ' What, a soldier and not drink brandy ? Well, well, 
I am very glad of it ; and now, where were you taken 
prisoner?' 

" ' At Egmont-op-Zee,' I replied. Then to my sur- 
prise he asked a number of questions as to the 
behaviour of certain of the officers in that battle. 



A MARTINET — MILITARY DISCIPLINE. 33 

" Ignorant of who my questioner might be, I could 
only reply faithfully as to what I had seen and knew, 
and unconsciously was able to remove the odium of 
cowardice from at least one to whom it had been 
imputed. I learned later that my interrogator was 
the surgeon of the 49th. He shook hands with me, 
and bade me take care of myself and I would rise to 
be a general officer. I was not very sanguine of that, 
but they were kindly words to cheer on the hopes 
and ambition of a lad who loved his profession." 

In the summer of 1800 the regiment was sent to 
Jersey. During the senior Lieut. -Colonel's absence 
on leave, the second assumed the command. Of this 
officer's ability, FitzGibbon speaks highly. 

" He was the best teacher I ever knew, but he was 
also a martinet and a great scold. His offensive 
language often marred his best efforts. The latitude 
taken at drill in those days was very great and very 
injurious to the service. The late Duke of York saw 
this, and by appropriate regulations greatly abated 
the use of offensive language. 

"To such a state of feeling was the regiment worked 
up by this man's scolding, that upon the return of 
the senior officer,* his first appearance on the parade 
was greeted by three hearty cheers from the men. 
This outbreak of welcome was promptly rebuked by 
the returned colonel and the men confined to barracks 
for a week." 

FitzGibbon does not name either of these officers, 

* Colonel (afterwards Sir Isaac) Eroek. 



34 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

adding only : " I might record the future career of 
the two men, but will only say that they were not 
on the same level. The historv of the one officer 
who won the affection and respect of his men by 
kind though firm discipline bears the higher military 
reputation." 

While the regiment was in Jersey, several recruiting 
parties were sent from it to England. With one of 
these FitzGibbon was ordered to Winchester. The 
party consisted of a captain, two sergeants, a corporal 
and drummer. The captain appointed, beinp- on leave, 
was to join the party later from London. 

Before embarking, and without FitzGibbon's know- 
ledge, his fellow-sergeant drew the month's pay for 
the corporal and drummer, went out of barracks, and 
either gambled or, as he said, lost it, by having his 
pocket picked. For this he was tried and sentenced 
to be put under stoppages as a private until the 
amount was refunded. Notwithstanding, before 
going on board the Rowcliffe sloop for Portsmouth, 
the man again drew the month's pay, and soon after 
their arrival in Winchester, lost or spent the money. 
The captain had not yet joined them, and upon pay- 
day FitzGibbon's duty would be to report the case to 
the regimental headquarters. This would inevitably 
result in the reduction of the sergeant to the ranks, 
or possibly the infliction and degradation of the 
lash. The man was of respectable parentage, in edu- 
cation equal if not superior to FitzGibbon, and his 
pleasing, gentlemanly manner had won his fellow- 



A PKOVTDEXTTAL FIND. 35 

soldiers' affection. Having full confidence in his 
truthfulness, FitzGibbon out of his own month's pay, 
as yet untouched, gave the corporal and drummer 
their week's pay. Another week passed without the 
captain having joined the party, and again he paid 
the men. This was repeated until he had not a penny 
remaining. 

" Twenty-four hours had elapsed since I had tasted 
food. We were walking down the high street of 

Winchester, poor as hungry and miserable as 

myself, neither of us knowing what to do nor where 
to turn for help. To sell any part of our regimentals 
was impossible. It was a military offence, and its 
commission would inevitably have brought the dis- 
grace I dreaded. Walking slowly and in silence, 
weary with thinking and the vain effort to puzzle a 
way out of the difficulty, I had almost given way to 
despair, when, the light of a street lamp falling across 
my path, my eye caught the gleam of a coin lying on 
the wet pavement at my feet. I picked it up, and 
carrying it to a neighboring shop-window, saw it was 
a half-guinea. I rang it on the sill to be sure my 
eyes had not deceived me. I did not stay to enquire 
who had dropped it. The street had many passers- 
by ; its owner might have passed long since, but the 
thought that it had ever been owned by anyone else 
never crossed my mind. I was hungry through no 
fault of my own, and this half-guinea was to me a 
direct gift from Providence, and as such I used it and 
was grateful." 



36 A VETERAN OF 1312. 



CHAPTEE III. 

JLN February, 1801, the 49th was ordered from 
^ Jersey to Horsham in Sussex, the recruiting 
parties receiving instructions to join it on the 
march from Portsmouth. 

" Arrived at Horsham barracks, it was generally 
understood we were to be stationed there some months 
and much of the unpacking was done. An express, 
however, arrived the following morning from the 
Horse Guards, ordering our immediate return to 
Portsmouth. At Chichester an order met us to be 
on the south sea-beach at nine o'clock the following 
morning. 

" During the two days' march conjectures were rife 
as to our ultimate destination. Some said we were 
intended for Ireland to quell a rebellion there; others 
for Manchester to put down a riot there, but it was 
soon ascertained that we were to be embarked at 
Spithead on board a man-of-war to serve as marines 
in the Baltic. 

" The grenadier company to which I belonged, was 
taken on board the St. George, a three-decker of 
ninety-four guns, bearing the flag of Lord Nelson, 
and pleased and gratified was I at finding myself on 
the same ship with him. The ships at Spithead 
intended for the Baltic sailed to Yarmouth, and there, 



NELSON A GENEROUS FOE. 37 

greatly to my disappointment, we were transferred to 
the Monarch, 74. 

"The fleet sailed on the 12th of March, and anchored 
below Elsinore on the 29th. 

" On the 30th, the ships passed in single line before 
the Castle, which opened a heavy fire upon them. 
The Monarch led the van, and in passing fired 230 
shot. Having passed beyond range the reports were 
collected, and to everyone's surprise not a shot had 
touched the ship, all having fallen short'. Lord Nel- 
son's ship followed, and he ordered that not a shot 
should be fired from his guns, the others following 
his example. Yet, a few days after the battle of the 
2nd of April, a Danish account of the operations 
stated that several men were killed and wounded and 
some damage done to the walls by the shot from the 
Monarch. 

" This appeared to me unaccountable — that the con- 
stant fire from two or three hundred guns did no 
damage to our fleet, while that from one ship should 
in so short a time affect the castle walls and its 
defenders. 

"In 1806, at Quebec, when sent on board a mer- 
chant ship to superintend the landing of some army 
clothing, I entered into conversation with one of the 
passengers, a Dane, who had served on board a 
Danish vessel on April 2nd, 1801. He told me that 
Governor Strieker, who was in command at the time 
in the Castle, was brought before a court-martial of 
enquiry, when he suggested that the powder he had 



38 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

must have been damaged, it having been there during 
the long peace of seventy or eighty years, then just 
concluded, and asked leave to try the effect of newly 
purchased powder. Permission being granted, the 
shot told with considerable effect upon the Swedish 
shores at the opposite side of the Strait. 

" On the 1st of April the fleet was divided into two 
divisions, one to anchor at each side of the shoal in 
front of the city of Copenhagen, that division in 
whose favor the wind was on the following morning 
to go in and fight the battle. The wind favored Lord 
Nelson's division, so it fell to his lot to achieve the 
victory. The Monarch was in Nelson's division, and 
had 53 men killed and 155 wounded — the greatest 
number ever killed or wounded on board any one 
British vessel. 

"The battle lasted four hours and ten minutes. The 
shattered condition of the Monarch necessitating; her 
being sent home ; the survivors of the marines were 
transferred to the Elephant. In a few days the 
damaged ships were refitted and the fleet, with the 
exception of the St. George sailed up to Kiorge Bay. 

"Sir Hyde Parker's ship, the London had her lower 
deck guns taken out in order to lighten her sufficiently 
to enable her to pass through the shallow entrance to 
the Baltic. There not being sufficient transports to 
take the guns of the St. George at the same time, she 
had to remain before Copenhagen until their return 
from the London. 

" A hint, however, being given to Nelson that Sir 



THE VICE-ADMIRAL'S FLAG. 39 

Hyde Parker intended to sail at once and attack the 
Swedes at Carlscrona, without waiting for him, lest 
he might again take the lion's share of the laurels to 
be won in a second engagement, he ordered his barge 
and started for Kior-e Bav. 

" Coming on the poop the following morning at 
five o'clock," writes FitzGibbon, "I saw the admiral's 
flag flying at the fore, and asking the signal midship- 
man what it meant, was told that Lord Nelson had 
come on board at two o'clock, and was then asleep on 
the sofa in the cabin, Captain Foley not yet knowing 
he was there. Immediately I was all ears and eyes, 
the cabin being directly under the poop. Presently 
I heard Captain Foley's voice at the door, rebuking 
the servant for not letting him know that Lord 
Nelson had come on board, and in a sharp tone from 
within, I heard a thin, rather feeble voice call out, 
: Foley, Foley, let the man alone; he obeyed my orders.' 

" For many weeks while he was on board ; I had an 
opportunity of seeing Nelson every day. He appeared 
the most mild and gentle being, and it was delightful 
to me to hear the way the sailors spoke of him. True, 
I was only at sea during the summer, but my greatest 
wish then was that I had been a sailor rather than a 
soldier." 

While in the Baltic an incident occurred which 
might have interfered with FitzGibbon's career as a 
soldier. 

The detachment of the 49th on the Elephant was 
commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Hutchinson, an impa- 



40 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

tient, hot-tempered man. One morning, very early, 
he sent for FitzGibbon to come on deck. While the 
ships were at anchor, both watches were in their 
hammocks at night. The hammocks being hung, all 
occupied, press closely together, and a man turning 
out singly must go down on his knees and there, 
with difficulty, put on his clothes. When FitzGibbon 
reached the deck, he found the colonel in a towering 
passion. 

" How dare you not come quickly, sir, when I sent 
for you ? You are an example of laziness to the men, 
and if the like of this occurs again, I will bring you 
to a court-martial and reduce you to the ranks." 

Then giving him the order for which he had been 
called on deck, the colonel left the ship with Captain 
Foley to spend the day in another vessel. 

Mortified by the publicity of the rebuke, adminis- 
tered as it was in the presence of not only the soldiers 
and sailors on deck, but of two of the midshipmen 
who had treated him with the kindly courtesy and 
tact of one gentleman to another, a consideration he 
was not entitled to by his rank as sergeant ; hurt and 
indignant at its injustice, and naturally impulsive, 
FitzGibbon determined not to wait for his colonel to 
carry the threat into effect, but at once, voluntarily, 
to retire to the ranks. 

Upon Colonel Hutchinson's return to the quarter- 
deck that evening, FitzGibbon met him, saluted, and 
said : "As I cannot discharge the duties of a sergeant, 
sir, without incurring such censure as I received this 



AN ANGRY OFFICER. 41 

morning, I desire to retire into the ranks as a pri- 
vate." 

The Colonel's face flushed with indignant surprise 
as he replied : " Very well, sir ; from this moment you 
are no longer a sergeant. Go, sir, to your duty as a 
private, and remember I don't forget you. Take that 
with you." 

A short turn on the deck brought him again in 
contact with the irrepressible soldier as he went 
below. Shaking his fist at him, he repeated his last 
words with greater vehemence, " Remember, I don't 
forget you. Take that ivith you." 

On the following morning the colonel again sent 
for FitzGibbon and asked if he remembered what had 
occurred the previous evening, and if he was still in 
the same mind ? 

FitzGibbon replied that nothing had since occurred 
to alter the opinion he had then expressed. 

" Very well, then, join your company as a private." 
He then paraded the company on deck and informed 
the men that FitzGibbon, having found himself un- 
equal to the performance of the duties of a sergeant, 
had resigned and retired into the ranks, closing his 
speech by advising those who might thereafter be 
promoted not to follow " the foolish example set them 
by FitzGibbon." 

For three months FitzGibbon remained in the 
ranks. He was happy because answerable for no 
one's conduct but his own. Strict in enforcing obe- 
dience to duty when a sergeant, he was yet much 
3 



42 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

beloved by his men, as many anecdotes told of him 
both then and in later years go to prove. He never 
allowed that any man could be wholly bad, but that 
there must be good in him somewhere, if one could 
but touch the right chord to reach it. Believing this, 
he looked for it, and though the result was often long 
delayed, the good was generally found. 

In the battle of Copenhagen, where the loss was so 
severe, one of the most reprobate and unruly of the 
men in the regiment was terribly wounded in the 
lower part of the back. When carried into the 
cockpit, the surgeon bade FitzGibbon take him away 
— there was no use in dressing such a wound, it 
would only cause great pain. " Take him away," he 
said, "and tell him he will be in a better condition 
to be seen to to-morrow. Poor fellow, he will pro- 
bably be dead by the morning." 

The man lived for three days, and FitzGibbon's 
comforting prayers and trustful confidence in the 
mercy of God for the poor sinner soothed his pain, 
robbed death of its terrors, and won for himself a 
deeper affection in the hearts of his men. 

Upon his reduction to the ranks, this love bore 
fruit. The companies were divided into messes of six 
men each, the duty of one of the six, each day, being 
to perform all the menial offices required, such as 
washing the dishes, etc. From all these the sergeants 
were exempt. On the first day upon which this duty 
fell to FitzGibbon, and he began to gather up the 
dishes, one of the men stopped him. 



SERVICE IN THE RANKS. 43 

" I'll do that, sir." 

"No," replied FitzGibbon, "it is my duty, and I 
did not become a soldier without making up my mind 
to do all the duties properly belonging to me, and, 
though greatly obliged to you, I am determined to do 
this." 

" Then, begorra, sir, you'll fight me first." 

It is needless to say that FitzGibbon declined such 
a combat, but during the time he remained in the 
ranks the menial duties that fell to his share were 
always done for him nolens volens. 

The fleet had no more fighting. The death of the 
Emperor Paul altered the course of events, and after 
cruising about in the Baltic, putting occasionally into 
harbor at Dantzig and other ports, the fleet was 
ordered home in August. 

The 49th was landed at different ports, the grena- 
dier company being disembarked from the Elephant, 
at Portsmouth and marched to join the headquarters 
at Colchester. On approaching the town, Colonel 
Brock came out to meet them, and drawing his sword 
marched at their head into barracks. 

At parade the following morning, Colonel Brock 
addressed the men. He thanked them for not only 
doing credit to the regiment and its officers by their 
bravery during battle, but for their general good 
conduct while separated on board the different ves- 
sels, the captains of which had written to him in the 
most favorable terms of the men while under their 
command. 



44 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

" He (Colonel Brock) created by his judicious praise, 
his never-failing interest in his men, both individually 
as soldiers and collectively as a regiment, a noble 
spirit which bore fruit in many a well-won laurel in 
Canada, in China and the Crimea." 

After the regiment was thrown back into column, 
FitzGibbon noticed his captain in conversation with 
Colonel Brock, and on the men being dismissed he 
received an order to present himself to the colonel. 
The following conversation is too characteristic of the 
two men to be omitted : 

" Pray, young man," asked the colonel sternly, 
" Why did you resign your office as sergeant when 
on board the Elephant ? " 

" Because, sir, Colonel Hutchinson censured me 
publicly and in harsh language, when in reality I 
was not to blame." 

" Now, was it not to insult him you did so ? " 

" Positively, sir, such a thought did not occur to me. 
I felt mortified to be so publicly rebuked, and, as it 
happened, in the presence of two of the ship's officers 
who had from time to time treated me with more 
than the attention due from men in their position to 
one in mine. Then, during the whole of the day after 
I was so censured, and before Colonel Hutchinson 
returned to the ship, I felt that under such an angry 
officer I must be always liable to similar treatment, 
and this consideration, more than any other, deter- 
mined me to resign." 

"Have you any objection to tell Colonel Hutchinson 
so now?" 



A SOLDIERS OPINION. 45 

" I have no objection, sir, to tell the truth at any 
time." 

" Then I wish you to go at once to his quarters and 
tell him so. He thinks your object was to insult him 
by way of revenge." 

FitzGibbon obeyed. Colonel Hutchinson accepted 
the explanation and went himself to request Colonel 
Brock to reinstate the self -reduced private to his rank 
as sergeant. 

When sent for again, Colonel Brock told FitzGibbon 
that it was in consequence of " Colonel Hutchinson's 
request that he was reinstated, and that there having 
been no returns from the regiment sent in during 
their service in the Baltic, he had never been officially 
reduced, and would receive his pay as sergeant as 
though nothing had happened." Before leaving the 
colonel's room the young soldier had something to 
say. After thanking the colonel for his kindness he 
asked permission to make an observation without 
offence. The colonel nodded, " Go on." 

" It is this, sir. I think that much harm is done to 
the discipline of the regiment by censuring the non- 
commissioned officers in the presence of the men. It 
lowers them in the estimation of the privates, and 
weakens their authority, besides the ill-feeling it 
creates towards the officer, which a private rebuke 
would most probably not create at all, but would 
rather leave the non-commissioned officer grateful for 
being spared in public." 



46 A VETERAN OF 1812. 



CHAPTEE IY. 

(>o 

^N the autumn of 1801, the regiment was moved 
from Colchester to Chelmsford, and passed the 
winter in peace and comfort. 

FitzGibbon was pay-sergeant of the grenadier 
company. He was not a good accountant, and when 
making out his pay sheet for February, found himself 
deficient to the amount of nearly £2. He was horror- 
stricken at this discovery, knowing he had not ex- 
pended it upon himself, yet dreading the consequences. 
A recent occurrence in the regiment, of a squad ser- 
geant being tried and reduced to the ranks for the 
deficiency of one shilling, roused his fears lest the 
greater deficit should be punished with the lash, and 
" he would take his own life rather than endure the 
degradation of stripping in the front of the regiment 
to be flogged." 

Under the pressure of this fear, FitzGibbon did 
what in after years he said was "no doubt due to 
my early reading of such romances as the ' History 
of the White Knight,' of ' Parismus and Parismenus,' 
' The Seven Champions of Christendom,' etc., I decided 
upon applying to the Commander-in-Chief for pro- 
tection. 

" I asked for and obtained a pass for three days to 
go to London on pretended business. I walked Up to 



A ROMANTIC APPLICATION. 47 

town, and found my way to the Anchor and Vines 
tavern, close to the Horse Guards, and though tired, 
at once wrote a letter to the Duke of York, stating 
the case to him and praying of him to enable me to 
replace the money so that my colonel might not 
know of the deficiency ; for, as I looked upon him 
as the father of the regiment, I dreaded the forfeiture 
of his good opinion more than any other consequence 
which might follow. 

" On the following morning, I gave my letter in at 
the door to the orderly on duty. With an anxiety 
I cannot describe, I walked before that door till night 
fell, then in despair returned to my tavern. In the 
course of my romantic reading, I had learned how 
many were the evil influences surrounding courts and 
princes, and supposed my letter had been withheld — 
that probably such letters from people in humble cir- 
cumstances were never presented to great men. I 
therefore wrote another letter, adverting to the one 
delivered at the office door, and again stating my case 
as before. 

" The second morning I took my stand at the door 
before the hour of opening, and asked the sentry to 
point out the Duke of York to me. 

" The Duke soon approached. He was in plain 
clothes and walking. I stepped up to him, saluted 
him, and held out the letter. He took it, looked at 
me from head to foot, and passed in without speaking. 

"After the lapse of a few, to me most anxious, 
minutes, I was called, shown into a waiting-room up- 



48 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

stairs and told that Colonel Brownrigg would see me. 
He came in presently with my two letters in his 
hand. He asked if I had written them. I answered, 
* Yes.' Upon which he said, ' The Duke can do noth- 
ing in this matter before referring to your colonel/ 

" 'But it is to avoid that I have made this applica- 
tion.' 

" 'In all cases of this kind,' he replied, ' nothing can 
be done before referring to the Commanding Officer.' 
Then seeing my agitation, he added, ' The Duke is not 
displeased with you. Keturn to your regiment and 
you will not be treated harshly.' I retired, and it 
being too late in the day to return to Chelmsford, I 
went back to my tavern. 

" Never having been in a theatre, and learning that 
I might go into the gallery at Drury Lane at half 
price, I went, and saw John Kemble and Mrs. Siddons 
in the characters of Jaffier and Belvidera. On leaving 
the heated atmosphere of the theatre I found it rain- 
ing, and was pretty well drenched before I reached 
my room. This, following the excitement of the two 
previous days, brought on a bad feverish cold, and I 
was unable to rise in the morning. 

" As my leave expired that day I wrote a note to 
the agents of the regiment, Messrs. Ross and Ogilvy, 
to report my illness, and begged of them to forward 
it to the regiment at Chelmsford. In the course of the 
afternoon the servant came to my room and told me 
that two gentlemen were below desiring to see me. 

" Startled at this announcement I desired them to 



COLONEL BROCK'S KINDNESS. 49 

be shown up, when to my dismay in walked the 
colonel and another officer of my regiment. 

"'Well, young man, what's the matter with you?' 

" I told him, ' a cold.' 

"'Well,' he said, 'take care of yourself this night 
and return to the regiment to morrow.' Adding, ' Per- 
haps your money is all spent,' he laid a half guinea 
on the table beside me with the words, ' there is 
enough to take you home.' 

" This kindness so affected me that I could hardly 
say, ' If you knew what brought me here, you would 
not be so kind to me.' 

" 'I know all about it. Get well and go back to the 
regiment.' 

" It so happened that the colonel had come up to 
town that morning, and was at the agents' when my 
note was received. He then went to the Commander- 
in-Chief's where my letters were put into his hands, 
when he came on to my room. Later in the evening 
the colonel's servant came to see me. He was a 
private servant, not a soldier, and a very intelligent 
man. 

" ' What's this that you've been doing at the Horse 
Guards,' he began. 

" ' What I would gladly conceal from the world/ I 
replied. 

"'Well, I know something about it, for while 
attending at table at the colonel's brother's house 
to-day, I overheard a good deal of what the colonel 
said of you to the company. It seems you have been 



50 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

writing letters to the Duke of York about some 
difficulty you have got yourself into, and mentioned 
the colonel in a way that pleased him and his brother. 
He said that when the Duke gave him your letters he 
recommended you to him, saying that he (the Duke) 
would not forget you. Then the colonel added, 'If 
the Duke forgets him I will not.' " 

Upon his return to the regiment, FitzGibbon's 
accounts were examined and an error of £1 15s. 
erroneously entered against himself, discovered — his 
limited knowledge of arithmetic and book-keeping 
being accountable for the supposed deficiency. 

The 49th, as indeed all the regiments of the line, 
were at that time in a very inferior state of discipline 
in regard to drill and field exercises. Sir John Moore's 
new code of drill was being generally introduced, and 
FitzGibbon's training under the drill-sergeant in Ire- 
land, as well as his practical knowledge gained in the 
yeomanry corps, was of great value to him and his 
company. 

In April, he was at Uxbridge recruiting from the 
militia just then disbanded. 

In June, the 49th was sent to Quebec. FitzGibbon, 
in order to take advantage of the long voyage and 
comparative release from duty, to study, provided 
himself with books upon military tactics and field 
exercises. Lying in the boat which hung over the 
stern of the vessel, he made himself master of every 
detail contained in the " Rules and Regulations for 
the Field Exercises of His Majesty's Forces." 



brock's "favorite sergeant-major." 51 

Such unusual application was not unnoticed by the 
colonel, whose attention had been already so favor- 
ably drawn to the young sergeant, and upon arrival 
in Quebec the sergeant-major was promoted to be 
quartermaster-sergeant, and the sergeant-major's sash 
given to FitzGibbon, over the heads of the forty older 
sergeants in the regiment. 

In September, 1803, Lieutenant Lewis resigned the 
adjutancy but not the lieutenancy, and though Colonel 
Brock recommended FitzGibbon for the vacant adju- 
tancy, there was no available lieutenancy for over 
two years, and he could only act as adjutant until 
1806, when Colonel Brock obtained an ensign's 
commission for his " favorite sergeant-major," as 
FitzGibbon was known in the regiment, from the 
Duke of York, who had not forgotten the lad and 
his romantic application for his protection, and in 
December of the same year he succeeded to the 
adjutancy. 

In September, 1802, his company was sent to 
Montreal, and in the following summer moved on 
to York. 

During these first years in Canada, there are many 
stories told of the sergeant-major. Desertions from 
the regiments stationed in Canada to the United 
States were frequent, but it is recorded of Colonel 
Brock that he only lost one man during the three 
years of his personal command. He owed this to his 
popularity and personal influence with his men, and 
to the vigilance of his sergeant-major. 



52 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

FitzGibbon always protested against the use of the 
" cat " for trifling offences, arguing that it degraded a 
man not only in the eyes of his comrades but in his 
own; that the sense of shame such punishment left 
in a man's consciousness pointed invisible fingers of 
contempt at him and robbed him of the courage 
necessary to face an enemy, as well as of the love for 
his officers which would carry him to the cannon's 
mouth with unflinching devotion. 

The invariable kindness with which Lieut. -Colonel 
Brock, although a strict officer in enforcing duty, 
treated his men, was repaid by their devotion to him. 
In several of his letters he speaks of the ingenuity of 
the inducements held out by the Americans to the 
privates in the regiments at the frontier to desert, 
and of the necessity of great watchfulness on the part 
of his officers to defeat them. 

Soon after their arrival at York, the sergeant of 
the guard informed the sergeant-major that three of 
his men were missing, and that a boat had been taken 
from a shed in charge of one of his sentries, who had 
also disappeared. Although at midnight, FitzGibbon 
reported the circumstance to the colonel, who ordered 
him to man a bateau with a sergeant and twelve 
privates. 

The roll was called in the barrack-rooms, when 
three .other men, as well as a corporal of the 41st, 
who had been left at York as an artificer, were found 
to be missing. 

At half -past twelve the colonel embarked, taking 



A MIDNIGHT CHASE. 53 

FitzGibbon with him. They steered direct for Nia- 
gara, thirty miles across the lake, and arrived soon 
after daylight. The night was dark, but there was 
little wind, and though the passage had been made 
before in an open boat, it was considered a venture- 
some undertaking. Lieut.-General Hunter, who 
commanded the troops in both provinces, is said to 
have expressed his displeasure at the colonel for so 
rashly risking his life. The deserters were overtaken 
and induced to return to their duty. 

A short time after this adventure a very serious 
mutiny was discovered at Fort George, then garri- 
soned by a detachment of the 49th, under the command 
of Lieut.-Colonel Sheaffe, which, had it succeeded, had 
certainly ended in the murder of that officer. 

Although the day has long passed when such 
tyrannical rule in an officer's hands would be toler- 
ated, yet one cannot read the account of the treatment 
the men suffered at the hands of this junior colonel 
without a feeling of just indignation. 

The four black holes in the fort were constantly 
full. Flogging was the sentence awarded for even 
trifling offences. The passing of a sentence so heavy 
that it required to be inflicted at two, three, and even 
four different periods, when the victim was incapable 
of bearing the whole number at once, was not uncom- 
mon. The " cat " was steeped in brine, before as well 
as during the infliction of punishment, and the suffer- 
ings of the men and their hatred of the tyrant may 
be imagined. (See Appendix II.) 



54 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Upon the discovery of the intended mutiny, the 
officers in the garrison held a private meeting and 
decided to send a secret message to Colonel Brock 
before taking any public action. 

Although not distinctly stated, the impression given 
is that Colonel Sheaffe was not one of the officers hold- 
ing this meeting, nor was he cognizant of the message 
sent to Colonel Brock. The feeling against him was 
so strong in the Upper Province that, later, it was con- 
sidered advisable to remove him to Lower Canada. 

A schooner then in the river was despatched at once 
to York. Colonel Brock hurried back in the same 
schooner, taking his devoted sergeant-major with 
him. Upon arrival, the colonel requested that the 
boat should be anchored below the town, where he 
landed alone, leaving FitzGibbon behind, with orders 
not to appear until sent for. 

Colonel Brock's prompt action in personally arrest- 
ing the principal mutineer, and by the force of his 
commanding presence and influence over the men 
making each one of them in turn arrest his fellow- 
conspirator, is one of the most dramatic instances of 
a military command anywhere recorded. 

From Brock's letters we know how terribly he 
must have regretted that any of his regiment had 
been under another's command, when at the trial and 
conviction of the ring-leaders in this unfortunate 
mutiny, they reiterated their assertion that "had they 
continued under the command of Colonel Brock they 
would have escaped their melancholy end." 



MUTINEERS COUKT-MARTIALED. 55 

Lieut. -General Hunter, then in Quebec, ordered 
that the delinquents should be tried in that garrison, 
and thither they were sent in September. 

FitzGibbon was sent with them. In a letter from 
Colonel Brock (now in the Canadian Archives), in 
reference to this court-martial, he says : 

" After what I have stated, the general may think 
proper to give directions to Colonel Mann to keep 
Sergeant Fern and Private Gagnes and the rest of the 
witnesses at Quebec during the winter, but I entreat 
His Excellency's permission for Sergeant-Major Fitz- 
Gibbon and Sergeant Steans being permitted to join 
me without delay, which I imagine they will be able 
to accomplish if allowed to depart the instant it is 
found their presence is of no further use. Being by 
themselves they will be able to travel infinitely more 
expeditiously." 

Colonel Brock had been ordered to assume the 
command at Fort George, and the desertions ceased. 
He allowed the men greater latitude, permitting them 
to fish in their fatigue dresses, and in proper uniform 
to visit the town of Niagara freely, and even to use 
their muskets to shoot the countless wild fowl, on con- 
dition that they provided their own powder and shot. 

In June, 1804, Lieut.-Colonel Brock, with a detach- 
ment of the 49th, removed to Kingston, and in the 
September following, to Amherstburg. 

Colonel Brock was appointed to the command at 
Quebec in October, 1804, and it is probable that Fitz- 
Gibbon went to Quebec with him, but we have no 



56 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

letters or positive mention of him or where he was 
stationed until the summer of 1806, when he was in 
Quebec. 

In the autumn of 1805, Colonel Brock returned to 
England on leave, and before his return to Canada in 
the summer of 1806, he laid before the Commander- 
in-Chief a scheme for the formation of a veteran 
battalion for service in the Canadas, in which Fitz- 
Gibbon was much interested; and as his ensign's 
commission was given him at this date, it is not 
unlikely, nor out of accordance with Colonel Brock's 
well-known character for generosity, that he gave his 
favorite full credit for all the information he had 
gathered for him of the feeling among the soldiers 
and the inducements offered to them to desert, both 
by the Americans across the international boundary 
line and the settlers in Canada who had taken 
advantage of the free grants of land and were now 
prosperous farmers. 

FitzGibbon always said he owed everything to 
Colonel Brock. He lent him books, had him with 
him at every opportunity, encouraged him in the 
effort to improve and educate himself, not only in 
every branch of his profession, but in all that was 
either of worth or likely to be of practical use to him 
as a gentleman or in any position he was ever likely 
to fill, at home or in the colony. FitzGibbon called 
the orderly room of the 49th his grammar school, and 
the mess-room his university, Lieutenants Stratton, 
Brackenbury and Loring his tutors. 



"NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE TO A SOLDIER." 57 

When in Quebec he often wrote to Colonel Brock's 
dictation, learning much of the correct pronunciation 
of words hitherto unknown to him, through the 
colonel's corrections. 

Upon one occasion, at Quebec, in 1805, Colonel 
Brock asked the sergeant-major why he had not done 
something he had ordered. FitzGibbon replied that 
he had found it impossible to do it. 

" By the Lord Harry, sir, do not tell me it is 
impossible," cried the colonel ; " nothing should be 
impossible to a soldier. The word impossible should 
not be found in a soldier's dictionary." 

Two years afterwards, in October, 1807, when Fitz- 
Gibbon was an ensign, Colonel Brock ordered him to 
take a fatigue party to the bateau guard, and bring 
round to the lower town twenty bateaux, in which to 
embark troops suddenly for Montreal, fears being 
entertained that the Americans were about to invade 
the province in consequence of the affair between the 
Leopard and the Chesapeake. 

On reaching the bateaux the party discovered that 
the tide had left them, and about two hundred yards 
of deep, tenacious mud intervened between them and 
the water. It appeared to FitzGibbon impossible to 
drag the large, heavy flat-boats through such mud, 
and he had given the word, " To the right face," when 
it occurred to him that in answer to such a report the 
colonel would ask, " Did you try it, sir ? ' : He there- 
fore gave the word, " Front," and said to his men, 
" I think it impossible for us to put these bateaux 
4 



58 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

afloat, but you know it will not do to tell the colonel 
so, unless we try it. Let us try — there are the boats. 
I am sure if it is possible for men to put them afloat, 
you will do it ; go at them." 

In half an hour the boats were in the water. The 
troops were thus enabled to embark a day earlier 
than if the order had not been carried out. 

It was in this year, 1807, that the first suggestion 
was made by Lieut.-Colonel John McDonell, late of 
the Royal Canadian Volunteers, for raising a corps 
among the Scotch settlers of Glengarry, Upper 
Canada, but it was not accepted by the Horse Guards 
or any steps taken to carry it out until it was revived 
by Colonel Gore in 1811. 

In a letter of this latter date from Colonel Baynes 
to Major-General Brock, a Captain George McDonell 
is spoken of as being appointed to attempt the forma- 
tion of a corps from among the settlers of Glengarry. 
In a postscript endorsed " private," Sir George Pre- 
vost's intention of rilling up the new corps with as 
many officers of the line as he could, and with per- 
manent rank, is announced.* 

It is interesting to note this, as we shall hear a 
great deal more of these Glengarry Fencibles before 
the close of our biography. 

The year 1807 was spent in Quebec. The following 
spring the regiment was moved to Montreal. In 
September, the colonel, now Brigadier Brock, was 

*Tupper's "Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock." 



THE GLENGARRY FENCIBLES. 59 

given the command at Quebec, from whence writing to 
his brothers, he regrets being separated from the 49th. 

" Were the 49th ordered hence, the rank would not 
be a sufficient inducement to keep me in this country. 
In such a case I would throw it up willingly."* 

He was succeeded in the command at Montreal by 
Major-General Drummond. 

Owing to the unfortunate destruction of the books 
of the 49th, at the evacuation of Fort George, in 
May, 1813, it is very difficult to ascertain where the 
various companies were stationed, and, to the ever to 
be regretted destruction of a quantity of private letters 
and papers formerly belonging to FitzGibbon, by an 
ignorant autograph collector, we are deprived of much 
valuable and interesting information of this period. 

Several companies of the 49th, under Major Plender- 
leath, were stationed at Three Rivers, on the St. Law- 
rence above Quebec, from 1809 to 1811. FitzGibbon 
was probably with their detachment, as from incidents 
in his later life it appears that this officer must have 
been closely connected with him in the regiment. 

Major Plenderleath certainly valued FitzGibbon's 
friendship highly, and showed his affection for him 
and his in a substantial manner. Among the papers 
met with in my researches I found a deed of gift for 
100 acres of land given to FitzGibbon's only daughter 
by his old brother officer and fiiend. I am not aware 
who now holds this property, or whether this deed 
has been sought to complete the validity of the title. 

* Tupper's " Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock." 



60 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

In September, 1811, the 49th was again in Montreal. 
Recruiting for the Glengarry Fencibles was in active 
operation in April, 1812. Lieut. Shaw, the acting pay- 
master of the 49th, was ordered upon that duty. 

FitzGibbon wrote to Colonel Brock in July, 1812, 
with reference to a company being given to him in 
the new regiment, and received the following auto- 
graph reply : 

" York, July 29th. 

"Dear Sir, — I lament that you should so long 
have been impressed with the idea that I possessed 
the means of being serviceable to you. I had scarcely 
heard of Mr. Johnson's having declined a company in 
the Glengarry (which would have given me the 
nomination), but I received an account of his being 
reinstated. I consequently thought no more of the 
business, thinking that officer was enjoying the fruits 
of his good fortune. I know not positively whether 
Mr. Johnson is reinstated, but being under obligations 
to promote his views, I cannot possibly interfere to his 
prejudice. I rather wonder you did not know that 
Lieut. Lamont had long ago my promise of nomi- 
nating him to the company, provided it became vacant, 
which, of course, would have precluded my applica- 
tion in your behalf. Although you must be sensible 
of the impossibility of my taking any steps to for- 
ward your views in the present case, yet, be assured, 
I shall always feel happy in any opportunity that 
may offer to do you service. 

"To a person unaccustomed to my writing I scarcely 
would hazard sending this scrawl. 

" I am, dear sir, 

"Yours faithfully, 

"Isaac Brock. 



COLONEL BROCK'S LETTER. 61 

" I should like to be among the 49th at this moment. 
I am satisfied they will support and even add to their 
former fame. They have my very best wishes. The 
41st are behaving nobly at Amberstburg." 

In the fac-simile of this letter from General Brock 
it will be noticed that the year is omitted in the 
date, but from the context and from reference to 
other correspondence now in the Canadian Archives 
at Ottawa, relative to Lieut. Johnson (a gentleman 
who apparently could not decide in which regiment 
he preferred to hold a commission, the Glengarry or 
the Canadian Fencibles), there is no doubt that the 
letter was written in 1812. 

Owing to the fact that there are very few letters 
from Brock extant, and those in the keeping of the 
Archives, the original of this one is a valuable relic. 
Written on both sides of a single sheet, the paper 
yellow from age, and many of the characters indis- 
tinct, it was difficult to reproduce it faithfully. 

The following letter bears an earlier date than 
General Brock's, and needs no explanation : 

"Montreal, May 16th, 1812. 

" Sir, — I beg you will be pleased to obtain for 
me His Majesty's permission to resign my commission 
of adjutant only, in the 49th regiment. 

" It is incumbent upon me to state my reasons for 
wishing to resign the adjutancy, I therefore detail 
them. Before I entered the army the circumstances 
of my parents prevented my obtaining such an educa- 
tion as to qualify me to discharge the duties of an 
officer in His Majesty's service. Whatever know- 



62 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

ledge I possess, I have acquired since I entered it. 
I trust that I have so far succeeded as to have 
rendered myself, at least as a regimental officer, re- 
spectable. At this point I do not wish to stop ; to 
personal exertions I look principally for further suc- 
cess in the army, and by qualifying myself to hold 
the higher and more important stations, I shall have 
the best prospect of arriving at them, and of be- 
coming most useful to my king and country, in whose 
service I have been already so liberally rewarded. 

" The duties attached to my present station employ 
me so as to leave no spare time. I am anxious to 
study and become proficient in the languages, mathe- 
matics, military drawing, etc., so as to qualify myself 
to discharge, with honor to myself, the duties of any 
situation to which I may hereafter have the good 
fortune to be called. 

" I have the honor to be, sir, 

" Your most obedient, humble servant, 
"(Signed) James FitzGibbon, 
" Lieut, and Adjt. Ifith Regiment. 
" To Colonel Vincent, 

" Commanding 4,9 th Regiment. 

" A true copy. 

" Noah Freer, 

" Military Secretary." 

This letter was forwarded to the Commander of the 
Forces in Canada, with a letter from Colonel Vincent 
soliciting approbation of its petition, and requesting 
permission to recommend Sergeant-Major Stean for 
the adjutancy if FitzGibbon's resignation is accepted. 

We can, however, find no further record or entry 
of any reply to either letter. 



UP THE ST. LAWRENCE BY BATEAUX. 03 



CIIAPTEH V. 

tN July, 1812, immediately after the declara- 
tion of war by the United States against Great 
Britain and her colonies, we find FitzGibbon 
again addressing his colonel and applying for leave 
to resign the adjutancy, in order that he may be given 
the command of one of the companies of the 49th, 
whose captain was absent on leave. This request 
was granted at once. A week later FitzGibbon was 
placed in the desired command by Sir George Prevost 
and sent with his company to escort the first brigade 
of bateaux from Montreal to Kingston. 

In these days of steamboats and canals, when 
heavily laden barges are towed in safety up our great 
water highway, passing the rapids by the canals, the 
difficulties of conveying the clumsily built, heavy 
bateaux and their freight up the south bank of the 
river, avoiding the rapids on the one hand and the 
enemy on the other, can scarcely be realized. From 
St. Regis upwards they were obliged to keep close to 
the shore, and were exposed to an enemy's attack at 
any moment. 

Why they hugged the south shore instead of fol- 
lowing the northern bank of the river does not appear. 
FitzGibbon says distinctly that for more than a hun- 
dred milvis the American shore was close on their left. 



64 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Possibly the north channel was not so well known to 
the boatmen as the south, or it might be that Fitz- 
Gibbon, adhering to the very original idea formed on 
the sand-hills of Holland, that the safest place was 
close to the enemy, took that route in preference to 
the other. If so, the result proved its value. 

FitzGibbon's enthusiasm, his readiness of resource, 
his willingness to take his share of work with his 
men, while at the same time preserving his authority 
over them, was long remembered. 

A white-haired old man (the late M. Le Lievre, 
of Three Rivers), when speaking of this expedition 
to the writer in 1873, recalled the particulars with 
vivid interest : " I can remember that journey well, 
although I was only a very young lad at the time. 
FitzGibbon was a fine man, and a splendid soldier. 
The men adored him, although he was strict. His 
word was law, and they had such faith in him that I 
believe if he had told any one of them to jump into 
the river, he would have been obeyed. He always 
knew what he was about, and his men knew it, and 
had full confidence in him." 

The Americans, learning that the bateaux were 
coming up the St. Lawrence, fitted out an expedition 
at Ogdensburg to intercept them. They landed on 
Toussaint's Island, but through the timely warning 
given by a man who escaped from the island and 
roused the militia on the Canadian shore, the boats 
were prepared to receive them. When the Americans 
made the attack they met with such a warm reception 



A WINTER DRIVE. 65 

that they were obliged to abandon one of their boats, 
and in spite of the fact that they brought the fire 
from their gunboat to bear upon the bateaux, and 
obliged them to move out of range, their own loss 
was so severe that they were forced to retreat. (Ap- 
pendix IV.) 

The bateaux reached Kingston without further 
molestation. Owing to the loss of the papers already 
referred to, it is impossible to ascertain with accuracy 
where FitzGibbon was stationed during the next four 
months. Whether with that portion of the regiment 
stationed at York, or at Fort Erie, or with the four 
companies left at Kingston, or whether he was with 
Brock at Queenston Heights, we have no document- 
ary evidence, no written record, to guide us. 

In January, 1813, FitzGibbon was sent from Kings- 
ton in charge of forty-five sleighs containing military 
stores for Niagara. This was an extremely arduous 
undertaking, the difficulties of overcoming bad roads, 
snowstorms, and the bitter cold of a Canadian winter, 
being scarcely less than those which beset the river 
highway from Montreal. Avoiding the trackless 
forest and the softer snow beneath the trees, the 
sleighs were obliged to follow the shores of the Bay 
of Quinte, and after crossing the narrow stretch of 
land between Prince Edward county and the main- 
land, known as the " Carrying Place," and along the 
low shores of Brighton Bay, to face the wide sweep 
of wind over Lake Ontario to York. 

Upon his arrival at Niagara, he was detached with 



66 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

his company and sent to the shores of Lake Erie, to 
the most distant post on the right of the army on the 
Niagara frontier. The lake was frozen completely 
over from shore to shore, and thus formed a firm 
bridge upon which it was expected the enemy would 
cross. FitzGibbon was set to watch and prevent this. 

When the ice broke up in April, he was withdrawn 
to the Niagara River, and posted at Frenchman's 
Creek. It was from this post that FitzGibbon made 
one of the daring raids for which he was afterwards 
so well known. Seeing a party of the enemy on one 
of the islands in the river at sunset on the 6th of 
April, he crossed in a bateau with twelve men, 
succeeded in reaching the island unobserved, and sur- 
prising the party, took them prisoners and brought 
them back with their own boat. 

That FitzGibbon was frequently employed in con- 
veying despatches from the frontier to headquarters 
at Kingston, we know, but we have no detailed record 
of each occasion upon which this duty was entrusted 
to him. His intimate knowledge of the roads, his 
expeditious promptitude and rapid movements, as 
well as the fact of his having been at so many dif- 
ferent places, while that part of the 49th to which 
he of right belonged remained at one post, makes 
this more probable. 

He was with his regiment on the Niagara frontier 
on April the 6th, when the raid on Strawberry Island 
was perpetrated. He was at York when that post 
was attacked by the Americans under Chauncey and 



UNDAUNTED "BRITISHERS." G7 

Dearborn, and back again at Fort George when it 
was taken by them on May 27th. 

There is no official record extant of the strength 
of the force that, after the gallant defence of Fort 
George, retreated to Burlington Heights. 

The situation was critical. The recent bombard- 
ment of York and its evacuation by its chief magis- 
trates and officials; the presence of the American 
fleet under Chauncey, a fleet capable of commanding 
every port on the lakes and in actual possession of 
the Niagara frontier shores; Fort George taken and 
occupied by the enemy ; the British force, harassed 
and wearied by previous patrol duties, followed by 
defeat, and further weakened by the permission which 
almost amounted to an order given to the militia to 
return to their own homes. 

The American force, 3,550 strong, flushed with 
victory, following up the retreat of the defeated 
and well-nigh disheartened British army, made the 
prospect appear gloomy indeed. Nothing but the 
entire evacuation of the western peninsula seemed 
possible. Against less odds York had been deserted. 
There seemed nothing for it but to destroy all the 
stores that could not be carried away, evacuate the 
Heights, and escape to Kingston, leaving the land to 
the enemy. Fortunately for Canada there were a 
few dauntless spirits to whom the words "defeat" 
and "retreat" required many letters to spell — enough 
of the ignorance of " when they were beaten" left in 
the British ranks to sustain them. 



68 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Collecting all the women and children in the fort 
on the Heights, and levelling all the fences on the 
deserted farms on the plains below, the British pre- 
pared to make a last stand against the enemy. 

Tidings being brought to the camp of the approach 
of the American army, Lieut. Crowther, with a small 
party, was sent out to reconnoitre, and if possible, 
check the advance. 

Upon reaching Red Hill, a scout brought him word 
that the enemy were close on the other side of the 
Big Creek. This information prompted the idea of 
attempting to surprise and capture the whole force. 
Concealing his party in the bush, the lieutenant 
watched the enemy approach in evident ignorance of 
the proximity of any ambushed foe. 

All seemed to favor the successful issue of his 
stratagem, when the excitable Irish temperament de- 
feated it. The Americans were scarcely within range 
when one of the 49th, forgetful of orders, fired. The 
enemy started, broke for shelter, and the lieutenant 
seeing all was up, fired a full volley to hurry them 
before withdrawing his party.* 

Ascertaining that the main body of the enemy were 
preparing to encamp at Stony Creek, he returned to 
the Heights, and reported to General Vincent. 

It was now FitzGibbon's turn. From his know- 
ledge of the ground and the enemy's behaviour under 
sudden attack, of how the unsteadiness of the few 



1 The Battle of Stony Creek. E. B. Biggar, Canadian Magazine, 
July, 1893. 



A VISIT TO THE ENEMY. G9 

affected the steadiness of the many, FitzGibbon felt 
confident that a night attack might be made with 
success. Colonel Harvey was in favor of attempting 
it, and FitzGibbon volunteered to learn the exact 
position and disposition of the enemy's forces, and 
personally obtain all the knowledge necessary. 

Disguising himself as a settler, he took a basket 
of butter on his arm, and went boldly into the 
American camp. 

There is no doubt whatever that he made himself 
very entertaining to the soldiers, to whom he sold all 
his butter, getting the best price for it, or that the 
purchasers believed they were obtaining much valu- 
able information of the position, panic and numerical 
inferiority of the British troops now fleeing before 
their victorious arms. The disguise was so complete, 
the vendor of butter so simple, that he was allowed 
to traverse the entire camp, and gain considerably 
more information than he appeared to give. 

FitzGibbon returned more than ever convinced that 
if General Vincent would consent to a night attack 
it would be successful. 

He reported the enemy camped on Mr. James 
Gage's farm, on the easterly bank of a rivulet just 
west of the Stony Creek, which ran through a 
shallow valley some two hundred yards wide, with 
steep banks twelve or fifteen feet high, their guns 
planted on the edge of the bank as on a parapet 
overlooking the flat. The infantry were encamped 
behind them in an orchard on the north and in the 



70 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

fields on the south of the road, while Generals Winder 
and Chandler had possession of Mr. Gage's house as 
their headquarters. The luckless advance guard was 
posted in the meeting-house on the west side of the 
flat, a quarter of a mile from the camp."* 

Upon Fitz Gibbon's report being received, an anxious 
council of war was held, and Colonel Harvey pro- 
posed a night attack being made. It was the only 
chance, the forlorn hope. The men had but ninety 
rounds of ammunition remaining. Sail had been seen 
on the lake. If time were allowed them to effect a 
junction with the land force, disastrous, precipitate 
retreat or annihilation was inevitable. The proposal 
was accepted, and Colonel Harvey given the command. 

Five companies of the 8th under Major Ogilvy, 
and five of the 49th under Major Plenderleath, with an 
unrecorded number of militia and other corps then in 
the camp — in all, a handful of seven hundred and 
four rank and file — set out in the silent summer 
night to strike what every soldier thought might be 
a last blow for the British flag on that fair Cana- 
dian frontier. 

Ascertaining that every musket was empty, even 
the flints removed, that no excitable Irishman might 
again betray their proximity, Harvey gave the order 
to march. 

Three hours passed. No sound broke the silence, no 
report of cannon carried tidings to the anxious hearts 



J. H. Land in Report of the Wentworth Historical Society. 



> 
o 

W 

o 
a 

GO 



H 

S3 

co 



a: 



Q 

O 

hi 

Q 
CO 




STONY CREEK. 71 

upon the Heights. Meanwhile, the troops had crept 
across the plains. Upon reaching the scene of Lieut. 
Crowther's ambuscade the men were halted, and the 
various posts of attack or vigilance assigned to the 
different officers. 

Stealing from the cover, the enemy's advance pick- 
ets were bayoneted in silence ere the challenge 
had well passed their lips, and deploying into line the 
attacking force marched up the steep bank of the 
valley to the very mouth of the cannon, every man 
knowing that any moment they might roar forth 
wholesale destruction down the ranks. 

FitzGibbon was one of the first men to reach the 
summit of the bank, at the moment that the first 
volley of the American musketry roused the sleeping 
gunners, who, springing to their feet, fired the guns 
just where they stood. 

Heedless of the death-dealing shot, the 49th 
charged, and carrying the guns at the point of the 
bayonet, turned them upon the now flying enemy. 
The camp was taken ; whole regiments fired but once 
and fled, leaving their dead to be buried by their 
enemies. The two American generals, Chandler and 
Winder, were captured by the British, together with 
seven other officers and 116 rank and file. The 
retreat of the front ranks carried panic with it to 
the rear; the ships, instead of supporting the land 
force, served only as a means of escape to the flying 
soldiers, and one of the most brilliant victories of 
the campaign was won by the British — a victory that 



72 A VETEUAN OF 1812. 

more than compensated their arms for the loss of 
York and Fort George. 

FitzGibbon always said in reference to this battle, 
that if the victory had been followed by immediate 
pursuit of the retreating Americans, Fort George 
might have been recovered without much, if any, 
loss. The advance, however, only reached Forty Mile 
Creek two days later. 

This suggested to FitzGibbon the idea that he 
might do good work if he had a few men under his 
immediate command, detached for skirmishing duty 

in advance. 

To decide upon a line of conduct and to act was 
one with the soldier. He lost no time in applying to 
Lieut. -Colonel Harvey, then Deputy Adjutant-General. 

To his intense satisfaction his request was received 
by Lieut.-Colonel Harvey with the words, "Most 
cheerfully. I have been looking for an officer I could 
send in the advance, and did not think of you. Come 
to me in an hour with written details of your pro- 
jected plan of operations, and I will propose you to 
the general." 

The general's consent obtained, the next difficulty 
was to select men. Had all who volunteered and 
wished to go with him been accepted, he would have 
had nearly the whole regiment. But the number was 
limited to fifty. 

" We all wanted to go," writes an old 49th man, in 
1862. " We knew there would be good work, fighting 
and success wherever FitzGibbon led, for though 



> 

H 
H 
fc- 1 

6 

-T O 

i a 
$ ° 



£ 



H 
O 

K| 
Q 

w 




THE "GREEN TIGERS." 73 

impulsive he was prompt, and as brave as a lion. 
Though apparently foolhardy, every man in the regi- 
ment knew that he knew what he was about, and 
forgot nothing." 

During the day, FitzGibbon made up the company's 
accounts and transferred them to another officer; 
selected his men from the several companies himself ; 
purchased a sufficient quantity of fustian to make 
shell-jackets, in order that he might be able to show 
fifty red-coats at one point and fifty grey-coats at 
another, and three cow-bells to be used as signals in 
the woods, where the bugle, whistle or even words of 
command might serve only to betray their where- 
abouts to the enemy. 

The 49th had long ere this date won for themselves 
the sobriquet of the " Green Tigers " from the enemy, 
the name being suggested by the color of the facing 
of their tunics and the fierceness of their fighting. 
Detachments of this regiment were generally sent to 
the front of every engagement. Batteries and guns, 
whose fire was proving disastrous to the advance or 
retreat of the British, had been stormed and carried 
by small handfuls of men from the regiment, and 
their appearance was now almost sufficient to ensure 
victory, and certainly carried fear into the ranks of 
the enemy. 

FitzGibbon's little band well sustained the character 
of the regiment. He knew each one of the men and of 
what they were capable ; knew that his faith in them 
was returned fourfold in their devotion to him, and 

5 



74 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

in that esprit de corps so essential to the successful 
career of soldier or regiment. 

With Ensign Winder and forty-eight rank and 
file, he successfully interrupted the communication 
between Fort Erie and Fort George, then in the hands 
of the enemy, and pursued and well-nigh captured 
a marauding troop of licensed freebooters under a 
Captain Chapin, whose warfare had been principally 
directed against defenceless farms, his men burning 
and destroying barns and farm produce, terrifying the 
women and children, and making prisoners of the few 
laborers they found in charge. 

By dividing his company into three parties, and 
sending them by different pathways and tracks 
through the woods and ravines, FitzGibbon was able 
to cover a larger area and give the impression that 
he had a greater number of men under his command 
than had he kept them all together. A code of sig- 
nals was arranged by which they could communicate 
with each other, and, though separated, be able to act 
in concert. 

Each band must have had many tales to tell of 
narrow escape and adventure during those days of 
successful hunting of the enemy. Once when Fitz- 
Gibbon and two of his men were crossing from one 
rendezvous to another, they were nearly captured by 
a party of ten or twelve Americans. It being impos- 
sible to retreat unseen, they concealed themselves 
under an overhanging bank of earth, from which a 
luxuriant growth of wild vines formed a screen, and 



A BOLD STRATAGEM. 75 

waited. Listening intently, FitzGibbon made signs 
to his men not to move, and, turning, crept cautiously 
along close to the bank to where he knew there was 
a deep hole or cave. A great tree had fallen and 
partially barred the entrance ; resting his hands on 
the trunk, he raised himself and dropped lightly on 
the other side, not, however, without having caught 
a momentary glimpse of the enemy. The path they 
had followed had come to an abrupt end on the top 
of the rise ; they were evidently uncertain of their 
locality and had halted to consider, undecided whether 
to return by the way they had come or to break a 
fresh track and advance. FitzGibbon crawled along 
until he was within a few yards of below where they 
stood. Pausing a moment to recover his breath, he 
uttered a succession of Irish yells and Indian war 
cries, which, reverberating from side to side of the 
cave, startled and struck terror to the hearts of the 
enemy above. Believing themselves surrounded by 
ambushed Indians, they decided that there was but 
one path and took it, not stopping to look behind 
them. FitzGibbon returned to his men, and they 
went their way without further encounter with the 
enemy that day. 

On the 21st, FitzGibbon, by a judicious disposal of 
his men through the woods and destroying the bridge 
over the Chippewa by removing the planks, had 
Chapin's whole troop in a corner, and would have 
captured them had not 150 infantry coming from 
Fort Erie been entrapped at the same time. The 



76 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

combined force so far outnumbered FitzGibbon's that 
he deemed it advisable to draw off his men and let 
the United States infantry escort their own cavalry 
back to Fort George. 

Later on the same day, when entering a village 
through which the enemy had just passed, FitzGibbon 
saw a dragoon's horse at the door of a tavern, and, 
hoping to surprise and capture the rider in order that 
he might obtain information of the enemy's move- 
ments and intentions, he advanced. 

When within a few paces of the doop, an infantry 
man came out and presented his musket. FitzGibbon, 
having his grey fustian jacket on over his uniform, 
still advanced, saying quietly, " Stop, my friend, don't 
fire." The musket dropped to the charge, while Fitz- 
Gibbon went on, " I advise you to go away quickly 
as there are British soldiers in the barn over there." 
Then, being within reach, he sprang forward, seized 
the man's musket and ordered him to surrender. In- 
stead of obeying, the man held on firmly. The sound 
of voices attracted the dragoon, who, issuing from the 
door, pointed his piece at FitzGibbon's shoulder. 
Lithe as a cat and of great muscular strength, Fitz- 
Gibbon turned, and still retaining his hold upon the 
infantry man's musket with his right hand, he caught 
the one pointed at his shoulder with his left, and 
brought it to the front beside the other. The man 
pulled but FitzGibbon held fast. Finding he was too 
strong for them, the dragoon drew FitzGibbon's own 
sword with his left hand, and attempted to cut him 



A BRAVE WOMAN. 77 

over the head with it, but failed. He then grasped 
it as a dagger and tried to stab him. But there was 
help near. As he raised his arm to strike, FitzGib- 
bon saw two small hands seize it from behind, grasp 
the wrist, and the sword was wrenched from his hold 
by a woman. An old man coming up at the moment, 
the two Americans were made prisoners, and carried 
off from within hearing of their own detachment, had 
it occurred to them to call out. 

It may be interesting to add that at the close of 
the war, in 1816, FitzGibbon obtained from the 
Government a grant of 400 acres of land for the 
woman's husband, as a reward for her assistance, and 
in 1837 when her son, who had joined the rebels, was 
taken prisoner, and tried, and would have suffered 
the penalty of death, FitzGibbon, in consideration of 
certain circumstances which came out in the investi- 
gation, obtained a full pardon for the lad from Sir 
George Arthur.* 

On the 24th of June occurred an incident which 
has been more or less correctly described, both in 
poetry and prose, at various times, more than once 
being spoken of as " the most brilliant episode of the 
war," that known as the " affair " or battle of Beaver 
Dam. We have two accounts of it, one written at 
the time by a correspondent of the Montreal Gazette, 
and published in the columns of the issue of that paper 
of July 6th, 1813, and one written by FitzGibbon in 



* An account of his case was published in the London Times, in 
August, 1839 



78 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

later years for the information of his grandchildren. 
(The former will be found in Appendix V.) 

Tupper also publishes an account in his " Life and 
Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock," which, in a foot- 
note, he says is abridged from The Soldiers Com- 
panion or Recorder. It has also been ably dramatized 
by Mrs. Curzon, a well-known Canadian authoress of 
the present day. 

To tell the story fairly, I must, although reluctant 
to load this biography with details belonging more 
exclusively to the history of the campaign and the 
country, endeavor to sketch briefly the condition of 
affairs upon the frontier at that time. 

We must recall the evacuation of Fort George by 
the British — or its capture by the Americans, to put it 
either way — followed by the battle of Stony Creek, 
the pursuit of the retreating Americans, and the 
desultory warfare carried on between the rival armies 
along the frontier. This sort of guerilla warfare 
between, not only the regulars, but the volunteer 
companies and straggling bands of Indians as well, 
had resulted in nothing decisive. 

After their defeat at Stony Creek, and their preci- 
pitate retreat from the Forty Mile Creek, the Ameri- 
can army were unable to undertake any offensive 
measures. Their communication between Forts Erie, 
Niagara and George were cut off by FitzGibbon and 
his handful of the 49th men, now more dreaded than 
ever as " FitzGibbon's Green uns." 

FitzGibbon had chosen De Cou's house as his head- 



M) |—1 




BEAVER DAM. 79 

quarters, a choice which evinced an intimate know- 
edge of the locality as well as considerable strategic 
ability. The position gave him the command of four 
roads — to Queenston via St. David's, to St. Catharines 
and the lake, to Colonel Bisshopp's station, and to that 
most important post, Burlington Heights. The accom- 
panying map does not give the last mentioned road, 
but as FitzGibbon speaks of it as the chief object of 
the American attack, and the later local maps place 
the road to Burlington at right angles from that to St. 
Catharines, it is reasonable to suppose it was there. 

Personal terror of the Indians was excited in the 
minds and imagination of the American soldiers by 
the wild tales of their cruelties to prisoners told by 
the settlers on whose lands they were quartered. 
The hatred of the latter for these intruders was in- 
creased by the brutalities perpetrated by Chapin and 
his men, and their love and admiration for Fitz- 
Gibbon was raised almost to hero-worship by his 
daring and success in checking the progress and in- 
terrupting the communication between the enemy's 
posts. 

This check was not satisfactory to the Americans. 
Complaints being made by the authorities at Wash- 
ington of the sluggishness of the generals in command, 
orders were issued at headquarters that, at all hazard, 
an effort must be made to dislodge or capture this 
irrepressible soldier, batter down De Cou's house, and, 
by securing the road to Burlington Heights, open the 



80 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

way to a successful attack upon that key to the 
position. 

The plan mentioned in the following letter to Fitz- 
Gibbon from William Kerr, the Chief of the Indians 
at Beaver Dam, and Brant's son-in-law, has, I regret 
to say, been lost, and though every effort has been 
made, both by myself and others interested in the 
records of our country, we have not been successful 
in recovering it : 

"Wellington Square, June 4th, 1842. 

" My Dear Fitz, — This is the birthday of our good 
old King George IV., which is still celebrated by the 
militia of the country in Canada West. 

" I wish you to get some good hand to sketch the 
accompanying little plan of the country about the 
Beaver Dam — that is, to copy it, and at the same time 
point out any inaccuracies you may meet with, both in 
the plan and account of the morning's work. The plan 
of the country I did a few days after the battle — and 
the account of that morning's work you can add to, or 
make alterations. But you must keep, or send to me, 
the original plan and account of the battle, as, you 
observe, it may be pleasing some thirty or forty years 
hence to look or talk over the same, when we ride to 
Owen Sound on the railroad. Mrs. Kerr is quite well. 

" Thine, 

" William J. Kerr. 
" Jas. FitzGibbon, Esq." 

Burlington Heights in the possession of the Amer- 
icans meant the probable occupation and possible 
subjugation of the entire peninsula. (See map, p. 79.) 




LAURA SECORD. 



From Logging's "Field-Book of the War of 1812."— Copyright, 1868, by 
Harper & Brothers. 



LAURA SECORD. 81 

The duty of striking a preparatory blow, this sur- 
prise and capture of FitzGibbon, was entrusted to 
Lieut.-Colonel Boerstler and a force of upwards of 
five hundred men. 

The natural confidence of success which the com- 
parative strength of the two forces gave the Ameri- 
cans was eventually the cause of their defeat. At 
the Beaver Dam, some of the junior officers with 
Lieut.-Colonel Boerstler were overheard discussing 
his plans, and a woman undertook the difficult task 
of attempting to reach and warn FitzGibbon. 

The story of Laura Secord, her loyalty, bravery, 
and perseverance under great difficulties, has been 
told more than once, yet I must repeat it once again. 
James Secord, formerly an officer in the Lincoln militia, 
had been wounded at Queenston Heights. Too crip- 
pled for further service, he had settled on a grant of 
land in the Niagara district, in that part of the 
peninsula at the time in the hands of the Americans. 
A couple of their officers coming into Secord's house 
to demand food, had stayed long enough, and talked 
loud enough, to allow his young wife to learn the 
danger threatening FitzGibbon and his handful of 
brave men. Her husband was incapable by reason 
of his lameness, but she could be fleet of foot and 
strong in purpose. From the moment she obtained 
her husband's consent to go, until she reached Fitz- 
Gibbon, her courage never failed. 

Putting everything in order, even setting the 
breakfast table ready, that the appearance of her 



82 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

presence might deceive any chance visitor to the 
house, and learning the particulars of the best route 
to follow, so as to avoid the enemy's pickets as much 
as possible, she set out at the earliest peep of dawn. 
Clad only in a short flannel skirt and cotton jacket, 
without shoes or stockings, her milking stool in one 
hand, her pail in the other, she drove one of the cows 
close to the American lines. While ostensibly making 
every effort to stay the animal's progress, she at 
the same time gave it a sly prod to keep it moving. 
Accosted by the picket, who questioned her anxiety 
to milk the cow so early, and chaffed her for her 
apparent inability to overtake it, laughing at her 
fruitless efforts to bring the creature to a stand, Laura 
merely grumbled at it for being "contrary." The 
scantiness of the woman's clothing, and her well- 
simulated wrath at the animal's antics, quite deceived 
the man, who let her pass without further protest. 

The moment she was out of his sight, Laura Secord 
drove the cow on more quickly, following the course 
of a small ravine which concealed her from both 
sight and hearing. A mile away, she hid the pail 
and stool under the bushes, first milking the cow 
sufficiently to prevent her returning too soon to the 
clearing. She then set out on her long tramp through 
the woods. 

The 23rd of June, the morning was hot and close, 
and through the lower lands the flies were plentiful. 
The underbrush in the forest was tangled and dense, 
making the tree-clad slopes more difficult to climb 



COURAGEOUS PERSEVERANCE. S3 

The fear of encountering outlying pickets, or wan- 
dering bands of marauding Americans, who would 
stay or question her, led her to avoid even the slightly 
marked tracks, and took her a long way round. Her 
first stopping place was the mill on the little stream 
not far from St. David's. Her friends there, a widow 
and a lad, endeavored to dissuade her from attempt- 
ing to reach FitzGibbon, and added much to the 
terrors of the way by exaggerated descriptions of 
the fierceness and cruelties of the Indians, who then 
infested the woods. But Laura had set out with a 
definite object, and she meant to accomplish it at all 
risks. She knew the enemy was to march the next 
day, and she must reach De Cou's, where FitzGibbon 
was, before them. The last half of her journey was 
even more trying than the first. She knew nothing 
of the way ; there were so many paths and "blazed ' : 
tracks through the woods, that she several times took 
a wrong one. When almost despairing of reaching 
her destination, she came to an opening in the forest 
and at the same time encountered a party of the 
dreaded Indians. 

One, who appeared to be their chief, sprang to his 
feet and accosted her. Terrified, she was at first un- 
able to speak, but reassured by the obedience of the 
others to a sign from their chief, she soon recovered 
sufficiently to try and explain by signs that she 
wished to be taken to FitzGibbon. Reiterating- the 
name and pointing to the knife in the chief's belt, 
she at last made him understand that many " Bio- 



y4 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Knives"* were coming. With an expressive "Ugh" 
of satisfaction and intelligence, the Indian turned, 
and led the way through the beaver meadows to 

De Cou's. 

" Thus," wrote FitzGibbon, " did a young, delicate 
woman brave the terrors of the forest in a time of 
such desultory warfare that the dangers were increased 
tenfold, to do her duty to her country, and by timely 
warning save much bloodshed and disaster." -f- 



* Michigans, " Big Knives," the Indian name for Americans. 

t The following paper was signed by FitzGibbon : 
"I do hereby certify that Mrs. Secord, wife of James Secord, of 
Chippewa, Esq., did, in the month of June, 1813, walk from her 
house, near the village of St. David's, to De Cou's house in Thorold 
by a circuitous route of about twenty miles, partly through the 
woods, to acquaint me that the enemy intended to attempt, by 
surprise, to capture a detachment of the 49th Regiment, then under 
my command, she having obtained such knowledge from good 
authority, as the event proved. Mrs. Secord was a person of 
slight and delicate frame, and made the effort in weather exces- 
sively warm, and I dreaded at the time that she must suffer in 
health in consequence of fatigue and anxiety, she having been 
exposed to danger from the enemy, through whose lines of com- 
munication she had to pass. The attempt was made on my detach- 
ment by the enemy ; and his detachment, consisting of upwards 
of 500 men and a field-piece and 50 dragoons, were captured in 
consequence. 

" I write this certificate in a moment of much hurry and from 
memory, and it is therefore thus brief. 

" (Signed) James FitzGibbon, 

" Formerly Lieutenant 49th Regiment." 

[Given by Auchinlech, page 175, but Mrs. Secord possesses the 
original, December 1863.—" War of 1812," Coffin, page 146.] 



R 

Q 

O 

q 
a3 

O 

a 

a 

K 

> 

w 

> 
<3 




INDIAN TACTICS. 85 

Sending her to a farm beyond De Cou's to be 
cared for, where, as she graphically expressed it, she 
" slept right off," FitzGibbon repeated her tidings to 
the chief, and remained on guard himself all night. 

In the meantime the American detachment had 
lain over at Queenston, and in the early morning of 
the 24th continued their march to Beaver Dam. 

They had not gone far before they came upon 
Kerr and his Indians, in number between two and 
three hundred, chiefly Mohawks and Caughnawagas 
from the Grand River and the St. Lawrence. Kerr 
and young Brant saw at once that their force was too 
small to oppose the American advance, so resorted to 
Indian tactics to retard and harass the enemy. They 
threw themselves upon the rear and flank of the 
enemy, and opened a desultory fire. The Americans, 
throwing out sharpshooters in reply, still advanced. 

The track was narrow and rough, the forest on 
either side forming a safe shelter for the Indians, who 
were neither to be shaken off nor repulsed. Their 
yells, echoing their rifles, rang on the national con- 
science, and the many sensational stories told of their 
savage treatment of prisoners had the usual effect on 
nerve and brain. 

About 7 o'clock, FitzGibbon heard firing in the di- 
rection of Queenston. Taking a cornet of dragoons, 
who happened to be at De Cou's, with him, he sallied 
out to reconnoitre, and soon discovered the enemy. 
They had retired from the road and taken up a 
position on a rising ground in the centre of a field 



86 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

of wheat. The firing had nearly ceased, the Indians 
having to creep through the standing corn to get 
within range, and the guns of the Americans reply- 
ing only to the spot where the smoke was seen to 
rise from the concealed rifle. 

The Americans being about fourteen miles from 
Fort George and several of their men lying killed on 
the road before him, FitzGibbon suspected that they 
probably believed themselves in desperate circum- 
stances. He sent the cornet back to bring up his 
men. Addressing a few animated words to them, he 
then led them at the double across the open in front 
of the American position, about 150 yards distant, 
to the wood between it and Fort George, as if to cut 
off their retreat, so disposing his men as to give the 
appearance of greater numbers. 

A discharge of grape from the enemy's guns passed 
through his ranks and cut up the turf, but did no 
further damage. The desired ground was occupied 
without losing a man. 

Upon discovery of the enemy, FitzGibbon had sent 
a despatch to Colonel De Haren, who was in command 
of a detachment of about two hundred men, as he 
believed about a mile from his own post, but who 
he afterwards learned had retreated to a distance 
of seven miles. While anxiously expecting the arrival 
of De Haren, FitzGibbon heard that the enemy were 
expecting reinforcements. The Indians were drop- 
ping off, and fearing to lose such a prize, he deter- 
mined to "come the old soldier over them and 



A BOLD SUMMONS. 87 

demand their instant surrender." Tying a white 
handkerchief to his sword he advanced. His bugler 
sounded the " Cease firing," which to his surprise and 
satisfaction the Indians obeyed. 

An American officer advanced to meet him, also 
bearing a flag. 

FitzGibbon informed him that it was principally 
from a desire to avoid unnecessary bloodshed that 
he demanded the surrender of the American force to 
the British now opposing their advance, and wished 
the officer to recommend the necessity of such 
action strongly to the general in command. Colonel 
Bcerstler's reply to this was, "That he was not 
accustomed to surrender to any army he had not 
even seen." 

Upon this, FitzGibbon represented that "if such 
was his (Colonel Boerstler's) determination, he would 
request his (Fitz Gibbon's) superior officer to grant 
permission for any officer Colonel Boerstler might 
depute for the duty, to inspect the British force, and 
see for himself the advisability of not risking a battle 
or the rancor of the Indians." 

FitzGibbon then retired, ostensibly to obtain this 
permission. Upon reaching his men he found that 
Captain Hall, of Chippewa, with about twenty 
dragoons, had joined them, he having been attracted 
by the firing. Requesting Captain Hall to represent 
the mythical " superior officer," " receive the request 
and refuse it," FitzGibbon returned to the American 
officer who awaited the reply. Colonel Boerstler 



SS A VETERAN OF 1812. 

then requested to be given until sundown to consider 
and decide. To this FitzGibbon replied promptly in 
the negative, " I cannot possibly grant such a request. 
I could not control the Indians for such a length of 
time," and taking out his watch, he added, " I cannot 
give your general more than five minutes in which 
to decide whether to surrender or not." 

During the negotiations which followed concerning 
the conditions of surrender, FitzGibbon heard the 
name of Colonel Chapin constantly repeated. While 
delighted at the success of his stratagem, FitzGibbon 
endeavored to keep all appearance of satisfaction out 
of his manner. When the condition that " the volun- 
teers and militiamen should be allowed to return to 
the United States on parole," was advanced by Capt. 
McDowell, the officer who acted for Colonel Bcerstler, 
FitzGibbon asked if the volunteers mentioned were 
not Chapin and his mounted men. Upon receiving 
an answer in the affirmative, he said : " The conduct 
of that person and his troop has been so bad among 
our country people, plundering their houses and other- 
wise behaving ill, that I do not think him deserving 
of the honors of war." Pausing a moment as if to 
consider, he added : " But as I am aware that the 
Americans accuse us of stimulating the Indians to 
destroy you, whereas we have ever used our best 
endeavor, and almost always successfully, to protect 
you, therefore, rather than give you cause to think 
so upon this occasion, I agree to that condition as well 
as the others." 



AN UNWELCOME ARRIVAL. 89 

" Then, sir," replied Captain McDowell, " if you will 
send an officer to superintend the details of the sur- 
render, we will be ready to receive you, and we shall 
depend upon you as a British officer to protect our 
men from the Indians." 

" I can only give you this assurance," he replied ; 
"the Indians must take my life before they shall 
attack you." 

FitzGibbon went at once to the chiefs, and repeat- 
ing his promise made to the American officer to them 
in French, begged of them to do nothing to interfere 
with its fulfilment. They agreed at once, shaking 
hands with FitzGibbon in token of their faith. At 
this moment, most unexpectedly, Major De Haren 
appeared, galloping into the open and accompanied 
by a colonel of militia. 

" I would have given all I ever possessed," says 
FitzGibbon, " that they had been twenty miles dis- 
tant, fearing that they would rob me of at least some 
of the credit of the capture. It became important 
to let Major De Haren know what had been already 
done, and I requested him to stop and hear it from 
me, but he most cavalierly replied, ' You need not be 
alarmed, Mr. FitzGibbon, you shall have all the credit 
for this affair which you deserve.' 

" ' I desire merely, sir, to make known to you what 

has been done, that you may proceed accordingly ; ' 

but he would not stop his horse, and Colonel Bcerst- 

ler, seeing us approach, rode forward to meet us. I 

introduced them to each other, and then Ma: or De 
6 



90 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Haren began offering certain conditions to Colonel 
Boerstler, upon which he would accept his surrender. 

" In an instant I saw myself on the point of being 
robbed of my prize, and stepping quickly to the head 
of Major De Haren's horse, on the near side, and lay- 
ing my left arm and elbow on its neck and my head 
upon my arm, my face towards Major De Haren so 
that my voice might reach his ear only, I said in a 
low but most imperative tone, ' Not another word, sir ; 
not another word ; these men are my prisoners.' Then 
stepping back, I asked in a loud, firm voice, ' Shall I 
proceed to disarm the American troops ? ' And he 
could not help answering, ' You may.' 

" The American troops fell in at once in answer to 
my command, and Major Taylor, Colonel Boerstler's 
second in command, asked me how I would have the 
men formed, in file or in column. 

" 'In file, if you please,' I replied, for I wished to 
keep their ranks broken as much as possible, and 
dreaded every moment that Major De Haren, in con- 
versation with Colonel Boerstler, would, by some 
blunder, ruin all. The moment, therefore, that I saw 
eight or ten files formed, I gave the order, 'American 
troops, Right face — Quick march,' that I might drive 
Colonel Boerstler and Major De Haren before me, and 
prevent their conversing together further during the 
crisis. 

"As we approached near where our men were 
formed, I stepped up to Major De Haren and asked, 
' Shall the American troops ground their arms here V 



A BOMBASTIC SPEECH. 91 

' No,' he answered in a harsh tone, ' let them march 
through between our men and ground their arms on 
the other side.' 

" Filled with indignation at this great folly, I 
thought, almost audibly, ' What, sir, and when they 
see our handful of men, will they ground their arms 
at your bidding ? ' but said, in an impressive tone, 
' Do you think it prudent to march them through 
with arms in their hands in the presence of the 
Indians ? ' 

"Before he could reply, Colonel Boerstler, holding 
out his hand, exclaimed, ' For God's sake, sir, do what 
this officer bids you ! ' ' Do so,' said De Haren. 

"'Americans, Halt! — Front! — Ground your arms!' 

" The order was obeyed promptly. Then the In- 
dians sprang forward from their hiding-places and 
ran towards the prisoners, who in terror began to 
seize their arms again. The moment was critical. I 
sprang upon a stump of a tree and shouted, 'Ameri- 
cans, don't touch your arms ! Not a hair of your head 
shall be hurt,' adding, 'Remember, I am here' — a bom- 
bastic speech, but I knew I could rely on the promise 
given me by the chiefs. The Americans stood still, 
and the Indians went among them, taking possession 
of such articles of arms and accoutrements as pleased 
them, especially the pistols of the dragoons, but in all 
other respects with perfect forbearance and propriety. 

" After the arms were grounded, and the prisoners 
saw that the Indians were so orderly, I ordered, 
' Right face — Quick march !' and marched them away 



92 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

from their arms. All being now safe, I mounted my 
horse and rode forward to Major De Haren, and asked 
him if he had any special order for me. For the first 
lime that day he spoke civilly to me, and requested 
me to ride on and join Colonel Boerstler and his 
friend, Dr. Young, and conduct them to De Cou's 
house." 

The kindly intercourse between FitzGibbon and the 
men he had so recently captured, during this memor- 
able ride, and until they were sent on to Quebec, has 
been attributed to the fact that he revealed himself to 
them as a Mason. There is, however, no mention of 
this among FitzGibbon's papers, and, knowing the 
man from his life and the nobility of his nature, I am 
much more inclined to believe it due to the natural 
courtesy with which a true soldier and gentleman 
would treat a fallen foe. FitzGibbon made them feel 
that they were more the victims of circumstance than 
responsible for defeat. 

The following are the articles of capitulation made 
between Captain McDowell, on the part of Lieut- 
Colonel Boerstler of the United States Army, and 
Lieutenant FitzGibbon, although signed by Major De 
Haren, of* His Britannic Majesty's Canadian Regiment, 
on the part of Lieut.-Colonel Bisshopp, commanding 
the advance of the British, respecting the surrender 
of the force under the command of Lieut.-Colonel 
Boerstler. It is taken from the original document, 
now in the Canadian Archives. 



ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION. 93 

" First. That Lieut.-Colonel Boerstler and the force 
under his command shall surrender prisoners of war. 

" Second. That the officers shall retain their horses, 
arms and baggage. 

"Third. That the non-commissioned officers and 
soldiers shall lay down their arms at the head of the 
British column and become prisoners of war. 

" Fourth. That the militia and the volunteers with 
Lieut.-Colonel Boerstler shall be permitted to return 
to the United States on parole. 

" Andw. McDowell, 
" Captain of the U. S. Light Artillery. 
" Acceded to. 

" C. G. Boerstler, 

" Lieut-Colonel comcVg detach' t U.S. Army. 

" B. W. De Haren, 
" Major Canadian Regiment." 

The number captured were 25 officers and 519 
non-commissioned officers and men, of whom 50 were 
dragoons, including 30 mounted militiamen ; also one 
12-pounder, one 6-pounder, two ammunition cars, and 
the colors of the 14th Regiment United States army. 

The Indians killed and wounded 56 men. Colonel 
Boerstler was also wounded. 

FitzGibbon's force consisted of 46 muskets, a cornet 
of dragoons, and his own cool effrontery, his rein- 
forcement a captain of the dragoons (Provincial), 
a sergeant, corporal and 12 dragoons — "the first of 
our dragoons ever seen in that quarter, and their 
arrival had an excellent effect upon the negotiations." 
(Account sent at his request to the late Sir Augustus 
d'Este.) 



9i A VETERAN OF 1812. 

" His Royal Highness the Prince Regent was 
graciously pleased to bestow a company upon me for 
this service, and the commander of the forces, Sir 
George Prevost, wrote with his own hand a letter of 
thanks to me for it." (Ibid.) 

Lest we should be accused of too highly coloring 
the account, which undoubtedly reads more like a 
chapter in a novel than sober history, we give an 
account taken from an American writer, who made 
the best of it from a national point of view : 

" After the disaster of Winder and Chandler at 
Forty Mile Creek, Colonel Boerstler was pushed for- 
ward with six hundred men of all arms, dragoons, 
artillery and infantry, to dislodge a strong picket 
posted in a stone house about two miles beyond a 
hilly pass, called the Beaver Dam, seventeen miles 
from Fort George. 

"Arriving at the Beaver Dam, Colonel Boerstler 
was surprised by a large body of Indians under the 
conduct of young Brant and Captain William J. Kerr, 
numbering about 450 warriors. The battle was main- 
tained for about three hours, the Indians, of course, 
fighting after their own fashion, in concealment, hav- 
ing apparently surrounded Colonel Boerstler in the 
woods. 

' Indeed the enemy must have conducted the battle 
with considerable adroitness, for Colonel Boerstler, 
galled on all sides, dared neither advance nor retreat, 
while the result of every observation was a conviction 
that he was surrounded by far superior numbers. 



OFFICIAL DESPATCHES. 95 

" At length, Lieut. FitzGibbon of the 49th (enemy's) 
Regiment arriving on the ground with forty -six rank 
and file, sent a flag of truce to Colonel Boerstler 
demanding a surrender. After some parleying, the 
British lieutenant magnifying the number of their 
troops and pretending to conduct the negotiations in 
the name of Major De Haren, not forgetting a few 
occasional suggestions touching the horrors of the 
Indian massacre, Colonel Boerstler, having neither 
reserve to sustain him nor demonstration to favor 
him, surrendered his detachment as prisoners of war. 
This battle occurred on the 24th of June, and was a 
brilliant affair for young Brant, since it was fought 
by Indians alone, not a single cartridge being ex- 
pended by the regular troops of the enemy."* 

In a private letter from William Kerr (who was 
Brant's brother-in-law) to Lieutenant FitzGibbon, he 
gives the number of " the Indians as 250, who were 
actually retreating when Colonel Boerstler surren- 
dered to your handful of men." 

The following are the official despatches in which 
the notice of the event was conveyed to headquarters : 

"Township of Louth, June 24th, 1813. 

"Sir, — At De Cou's this morning, about seven 
o'clock, I received information that about 1,000 of the 
enemy with two guns were advancing towards me 
from St. David's. I soon after heard firing of cannon 
and musketry, and in consequence rode in advance 



* i 



' Life of Brant," by Wi.liam I. Thorn, 1838. Dearborn & Co. 



96 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

two miles on the St. David's road. I discovered by 
the firing that the enemy was moving for the road on 
the mountain. I sent off' Cornet McKenzie to order 
out my detachment of the 49th, consisting of a sub- 
altern and forty-six rank and file, and closed upon 
the enemy to reconnoitre. 

" I discovered him on the mountain road and took 
up a position on an eminence to the right of it. My 
men arrived and pushed on in his front to cut off* his 
retreat, under a fire from his guns, which, however, 
did no execution. After examining his position, I 
found it difficult to approach him, there being no 
wood in front or on the flanks to cover the Indians, 
and his force (apparently 600) I could not approach. I 
was here informed that he expected reinforcements. 
I therefore decided upon summoning him to surrender. 

" After the exchange of several propositions be- 
tween Colonel Boerstler and myself in the name of 
Lieut.-Colonel De Haren, Lieut. -Colonel Boerstler 
agreed to surrender on the terms stated in the 
articles of capitulation. On my return to my men to 
send an officer to superintend the details of the 
surrender — you arrived. 

" I have the honor to be, etc., 

"(Signed) J. FitzGibbon, 

" Lieutenant Ifith Regiment" 

The soldier left his brother soldier to continue the 
account, knowing well that if fairly told the credit due 
would be given to him. Whether the misstatement 
in Lieut.-Colonel Bisshopp's despatch to Brigadier- 
General Vincent was due to him or to Major De Haren, 
we cannot now ascertain. All that we can find in 
reference to it in FitzGibbon's papers is the following : 



LIEUT-COLONEL BISSHOPP's LETTER. 97 

" And here I will state what I believe caused Major 
De Haren to conduct himself so strangely towards me 
as he did, namely, his having retreated from the scene 
of action instead of advancing as I had done ; and, 
afterwards witnessing my success, he felt how the 
two proceedings might be contrasted, and he hoped 
thus to give a turn to the passing circumstances which 
might change their appearance more in his favor than 
the real facts would do. Other proceedings were 
afterwards resorted to to rob me entirely of what was 
due to me on this occasion; but I decline to state 
them from tenderness to the memory of the officers 
concerned, who are long since dead. I was, however, 
afforded an opportunity soon after to plead my cause 
before Major-General Vincent, Sir James Yeo and 
Lieut.-Colonel Harvey, and justice was in part done 
to me in a private letter to Sir George Prevost, for 
the letter of Lieut.-Colonel Bisshopp to Major-General 
Vincent, afterwards published, wholly wronged me." 

Lieut.-Colonel Bisshopp's letter to Brigadier-General 
Vincent, now in the Canadian Archives, is as follows : 

"Beaver Dam, June 24th, 1813. 

"Sir, — I have the honor to inform you that the 
troops you have done me the honor to place under 
my command, have succeeded this day in taking 
prisoners a detachment of the United States army 
under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Boerstler. In 
this affair the Indian warriors, under the command of 
Captain Kerr, were the only force actually engaged. 
To them great merit is due, and to them I feel par- 



98 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

ticularly obliged for their gallant conduct on this 
occasion. 

"On the appearance of the detachment of the 49th 
Regiment under Lieut. FitzGibbon, the Light Com- 
pany of the 8th King's Regiment, the two flank 
companies of the 104th under Major De Haren, and 
the Provincial Cavalry under Captain Hall, the whole 
surrendered to His Majesty's troops. To the conduct 
of Lieut. FitzGibbon of the 49th Regiment, through 
whose address the capitulation was entered into, may 
be attributed the surrender of the American army. 

"To Major De Haren, for his speedy movement to 
the point of attack and execution of the arrangements 
I had previously made with him, I am very much 
obliged. 

"I have the honor to enclose the capitulation 
entered into between Colonel Boerstler and myself, 
and a return of prisoners taken, inclusive of wounded, 
not yet ascertained. I lose no time in forwarding my 
Staff- Adjutant, Lieut. Barnard, to communicate to you 
this intelligence. He has been particularly active 
and useful to me on all occasions. I take this oppor- 
tunity of mentioning him to you, and beg- the favor 
of you to recommend him to His Excellency Sir 
George Prevost, as an active and promising young 
officer. 

" I have the honor to be, Sir, 

"Your most obedient servant, 
" Cecil Bisshopp, 
" Li< ut.-Cvlonel Commanding Troops in Advance. 
" Brigadier-General Vincent, 

Cumntaudinj Centre Division." 



« / >. 



A WRONG IMPRESSION. 99 

Tennyson's lines, 

"A lie that is all a lie can be met and fought with 
outright, 
But a lie that is half a truth is a harder matter 
to fight," 

might be applied here. The fact of including the 
forces under De Haren with the small detachment 
under FitzGibbon's immediate command in his report 
to the General, leaves (and certainly did make on that 
officer's mind) the impression that the combined forces 
were present when the negotiations between Colonel 
Boerstler and the British were entered into — not, as 
was actually the case, that they arrived after the 
American general had surrendered at discretion to 
FitzGibbon. It will also be remembered that De Haren 
reached the scene accompanied only by a colonel of 
militia, having in his anxiety outridden his detach- 
ment. In fact, FitzGibbon's fear lest his captives 
should discover the smallness of his force, is but 
another proof that De Haren's had not yet come up. 
The situation was aptly described by the late Judge 
Jarvis, of Brockville, who was with FitzGibbon at 
Beaver Dam : " And when the Yankees did surrender, 
we all wondered what the mischief he (FitzGibbon) 
would do with them." That the " active and promis- 
ing young officer " must, however, have let something 
of the truth out, General Vincent's letter with which 
he forwarded Lieut.-Colonel Bisshopp's, suggests : 



100 



A VETERAN OF 1812. 



" Forty Mile Creek, June 25th, 1813. 
» gjR ; — I have the honor of transmitting to Your 
Excellency a report I received from Lieut.-Colonel 
Bisshopp, commanding the troops in advance, of the 
success of a skirmish with a strong detachment of 
cavalry and infantry, advancing with two field-pieces. 
" In the vigilance of Lieut.-Colonel Bisshopp, I feel 
much indebted, and beg leave to refer Your Excellency 
to his report of the conduct of the officers and men 
under his command, which is deserving every com- 
mendation. I cannot but particularize that of Lieut. 
FitzGibbon, 49th Regiment, commanding a small 
reconnoitring party co-operating with the Indians, 
through whose address in entering into the capitula- 
tion, Your Excellency will perceive by Lieut.-Colonel 
Bisshopp's report, that the surrender of the American 
detachment is to be attributed. I beg leave to recom- 
mend this officer to Your Excellency's protection. 
" I have the honor to be, Sir, 

" Your obedient, humble servant, 
" John Vincent, 

" Brigadier- General." 

Return of American Prisoners Taken Near Fort George, 

June 24th, 1813. 





m 




















<u 




















5 














t»i 




CORPS. 


o 
o 




to 




to 


to 

C 


CO 

- 


3 


fe 




CD 

3 


to 

u 

2, 

03 


'3 

a 


Lieutei 
Cornet 


O 
« 

u 

p 
in 


o 

to 

o 
GO 


p 


a 


Light Dragoons 




1 




1 




19 


Light Artillery 






1 


1 


, , 




2 


( t 


31 


6th Regiment Infantry 






1 


1 


• • 




3 




54 


14th „ „ 


1 


, t 


3 


11 




1 


15 


, , 


301 


20th „ „ 




1 
















23rd „ „ 


1 


1 


1 
6 






1 


4 


2 


57 


Total 


13 


1 


25 


2 


462 



COLONEL RCERSTLER's LETTER. 101 

Officers' Names and Rank. 

Lt. -Col. Boerstler, 14th Regt. Lieut. Kerney, 14th Rcgt. 

Major Taylor, 20th Regt. n Marshall, n 

Capt. McDowell, Lt. Artillery. n Waring, « 

ii Macharnie, 6th Regt. u Mudd, n 

ii McKenzie, 14th n m Murdock, m 

■I Cummins, n » n Goodwin, n 

tt Fleming, M i, n Clarke, .. 

M Reach, 23rd Regt. n Robinson, u 

Lieut. Norris, Lt. Artillery. n Randall, M 

ii Shell, 6th Regt. Cornet Bird, Dragoons. 

ii Saunders, 14th Regt. Surgeon Young, 14th Regt. 
M Arnell, m 

(Copy.) J. Harvey, 

Deputy Adjutant-General. 

The history is not complete without a copy of 
Lieut.-Colonel Boerstler's letter to General Dearborn, 
the original of which is in the Canadian Archives : 

" Twenty Mile Creek, June 25th, 1813. 

" Sir, — I am permitted to state the misfortune 
which has befallen myself and detachment entrusted 
to my care. We proceeded yesterday until near the 
Beaver Dam, when we were attacked by a large 
force of Indians, who were reinforced by regulars 
under Colonel De Haren, while other reinforcements 
marched in the direction of our rear. The action 
lasted three hours and ten minutes, during which 
time we drove them some distance into the wood, but 
finding our men not equal to that mode of fighting, 
I changed my position twice during the engagement 
to get more open ground ; but such was the position 
that the enemy's balls reached us from every direction, 
while he was concealed. Our ammunition being nearly 
expended, surrounded on all sides, seventeen miles to 
retreat, where my force would have constantly 
diminished, especially after spending our ammunition 



102 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

while the enemy was gathering in from various out- 
posts ; myself, Captain Macharnie, Lieut Randall, 
and Lieut. Marshall wounded, I saw that in the ex- 
hausted state the men were in, that far the greater 
part, if any, could never reach Fort George, therefore 
was compelle 1 to capitulate. The officers under my 
command will state what may be requisite as to my 
conduct. 

[Then follows the same detail of prisoners abridged 
from the one given above.] 

" You will find enclosed articles of capitulation. I 
have the honor to be 

" Your distressed humble servant, 

" C. G. BCERSTLER, 

Lieut. -Colonel lJfth. 
" Major-Gen. Dearborn. 

" I presume my destination will be Quebec. I beg 
I may be exchanged as soon as possible." 

In the following extract from a letter dated June 
28th, 1813, and signed, James J. Fulton, A.D.C., the 
effect of the capture is mentioned. After reverting 
to information and maps already sent to him (Sir 
George Prevost), relative to the position of the forces 
on the frontier, he adds : " When the western Indians 
arrive, which we hope will be this evening, the whole, 
amounting to about five hundred, will be sent to the 
Four Mile Creek. This movement will totally cut 
off any supplies that the enemy might receive from 
this side of the water. Indeed, from anything we 
learn since Colonel Boerstler's disaster, they have 



EFFECT OF THE CAPTURE. 103 

not dared to send a patrol more than one mile from 
Fort George in any direction." 

General De Rottenburg, who had recently been 
appointed to the command of the Niagara frontier, 
also speaks of the effect upon the enemy of the 
capture of the American general. After lamenting 
the failure of Sir James Yeo's expedition on the lake, 
and the consequent impossibility of his attempting 
to attack Fort George, which, in consequence of the 
panic the Americans were thrown into by the capture 
of Bcerstler, and the cutting oft' of all communication 
between the garrison and their supplies, or from 
reinforcements from the land and riverside, had been 
an easy prey, he adds : 

"I have secured the position at Burlington Bay 
against a conp-de-main. That glory hold I must 
retire to ultimately and maintain myself there until 
the navy will be enabled to meet the fleet on Lake 
Ontario. Had Sir James had time to spare to co- 
operate with the army, Fort George would have 
fallen, but I do not now possess the means of attack- 
ing them on both sides of the river. Lieut. FitzGib- 
bon is a deserving and enterprising officer, and I shall 
forward your letter to him." 

Unfortunately the private letter to FitzGibbon 
from Sir George Prevost was among the papers the 
loss of which has given us so much to regret. 



104? A VETERAN OF 1812. 




CHAPTER VI. 

LTHOUGH FitzGibbon speaks gratefully of 
the reward for his services at Beaver Dam, 
reference to Colonel Brock's letter, given in a 
previous chapter, as well as to the extract below, 
from the Canadian Archives, betrays the fact that the 
company " so graciously bestowed upon him " was not 
unsolicited on his part. In after years he regretted 
his removal into a colonial regiment. It took him 
from under the notice of the Commander-in-Chief, and 
interfered with his success and advancement in the 
army and as a soldier. 

At the time, however, his ambition was satisfied by 
obtaining a company in a regiment which he knew 
to have been a favorite, and, to a certain extent, a 
creation of Sir Isaac Brock's. 

" Headquarters, Kingston, July 1, 1813. 

" Sir, — I have the honor to submit to your Excel- 
lency's consideration the copy of a letter from Lieut. 
Johnson, of the Canadian Fencible Infantry, soliciting 
to be permitted to resign all pretensions to promotion 
in the Glengarry Light Infantry, to return to his 
lieutenancy in the Canadian Fencibles. 

" I beg leave to inform your Excellency that Lieut. 
Johnson, at an early period, resigned his recruiting 
orders, which were transferred to Lieut. FitzGibbon of 



THE ATTACK ON FORT SCHLOSSER. 105 

the 49th Regiment, but were afterwards recalled and 
restored to Lieut. Johnson at the earnest solicitation 
of his father, to the great disappointment and pre- 
judice of Lieut. FitzGibbon, who, in consequence of 
this prospect of promotion in the levy, resigned the 
adjutancy of the 49th Regiment . . . . ; 

" I beg strongly to recommend to your Excellency's 
notice the pretensions of Lieut. FitzGibbon of the 
49th, from the circumstances above stated, but most 
particularly from his ability as an officer of a light 
corps, in which line of service he has recently so 
eminently distinguished himself." 



* 



It would also appear from this letter that the gift 
of such promotion had to be earned by the recipient 
in the arduous and often expensive duty of recruit- 
ing a certain complement of the men to form the 
company over which he was granted the command. 

FitzGibbon's pretensions were favorably considered, 
and the step in regimental rank given him, but he 
did not join the new regiment until January, 1814. 
He still retained command of the gallant little band 
of the 49th. 

On July 3rd, he sent Ensign Winder with a note 
from Fort Erie, where he then was, to Chippewa, 
bidding him give it to any militia officer he could 
find who would assist him in carrying out the plan 
it contained. 

The following report gives the result : 



* Letter from Colonel Baynes to Sir George Prevost, Canadian 
Archives, 797, page 131. 
7 



106 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

" Chippewa, July 5th, 1813. 

« g IR? — For the information of General De Rotten- 
burg, please say that I last evening received a note 
from Lieut. FitzGibbon, requesting me to assist 
Ensign Winder of the 49th Regiment, with what 
militia I could muster, to make a descent about day- 
break of this morning upon Fort Schlosser, and bring 
off* what public boats and stores we could find there. 
I accordingly, in the course of the night, assembled 
34, including officers, who, together with Ensign 
Winder, volunteer Thompson and . 6 privates of the 
49th, crossed over in three boats* and arrived at 
Schlosser a little after daybreak, and were so fortu- 
nate as to surprise the guard, consisting of 2 lieu- 
tenants, 1 sergeant, 8 privates, 3 civilians, and 3 of 
our own subjects, in the public storehouse at and 
upon the wharf. We found one brass 6 -pounder, 57 
stand of arms, 2J kegs of musket ball-cartridges, 6 
bulwarks (or musket-proof curtains for boats), 1 
gunboat, 2 bateaux, 2 anchors, 20 barrels of salt, 17 
casks of tobacco, 8 barrels of pork, 1 barrel whiskey, 
with some spades, bars and axes — all of which we 
brought to this place. We left at Schlosser 6 scows, 
6 boats (some of them very large), and about 16 tons 
weight of cannon shot and shells. The scows and 
boats, from their being immersed in water, we could 
not bring off nor completely disable. We remained 
at Schlosser about one hour, during which time no 
person appeared to oppose us ; however, we had 
scarcely embarked in the last boat, when from 12 to 
15 men came to the beach, supposed to be militia or 
workmen from Patey Mills. They fired about twenty 
shots of musketry at us, which were returned by our 
last two boats. No damage was done to any person 



BLACK ROCK. 107 

in the boats, and I believe little hurt was done to 
the people on shore. 

" I have the honor to be, Sir, 

" Your most obedient servant, 

" Thomas Clarke, 
" Lieut-Colonel 2nd Lincoln Militia. 

" To LlEUT.-COLONEL HARVEY, 

"Deputy Adjutant- General." 

FitzGibbon had judged correctly in estimating that 
the celebration of their national festival, the anni- 
versary of the Declaration of Independence, would 
occupy the enemy and render them less on the alert. 
When sending Ensign Winder upon this enterprise, 
he had a twofold object in view. He wished to give 
his subaltern a chance of distinguishing himself in a 
separate service, and so draw the attention of the 
officer in command to him, and obtain his recom- 
mendation for promotion. He also intended with the 
remainder of his party to make a simultaneous raid 
or attack upon Black Rock, a more important and 
strongly garrisoned post on the enemy's shores. To 
his great disappointment, he could not obtain suffi- 
cient boats in which to convey his men across the 
river, and was reluctantly obliged to postpone the 
intended descent. 

Sir George Prevost thought the success at Schlosser 
of sufficient importance to issue a general order upon 
it. 

Two days later, Lieut. -Colonel Bisshopp informed 
FitzGibbon that he desired to attack Black Rock, and 



108 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

had asked General De Bottenburg for three hundred 
men, but could obtain only two hundred. 

" Do you think this number sufficient ? " 

FitzGibbon smilingly replied, " I hope, sir, you will 
not be offended when I tell you that I am only wait- 
ing for boats to make the attack with less than fifty 
men." 

" Then you think two hundred will do," returned 
the colonel ; adding, " You must not attack, but wait 
until I return with the men, and you shall accompany 
me. 

Colonel Bisshopp came back the following morning. 
He allowed FitzGibbon to arrange the plan of attack, 
to lead the advance, and to undertake to cover the 
retreat should the main attack be frustrated. 

At two o'clock on the morning of the 11th, the 
men embarked. A thick mist lay over the water, 
making the morning very dark. FitzGibbon's men 
were in the first four boats. Owing to the darkness 
and the strength of the current, they were carried 
farther down than their intended point of landing, 
and had to pull up about a quarter of a mile on the 
enemy's side. 

Although it was broad daylight, the mist still hung 
over the river and its shores. Advancing at once, their 
approach was soon discovered by the one hundred and 
fifty militiamen occupying one of the barracks, who 
were under arms to receive them. Rightly judging 
that Colonel Bisshopp with the main body had been 
carried farther down the stream, FitzGibbon had re- 



AN INDIGNANT OFFICER. 109 

course to his old tactics to gain time, in order that 
they might join him. 

Leaving his handful of men in the background, 
trusting that the nature of the mist would magnify 
their number in the eyes of the enemy, he advanced 
with his bugler and a flag of truce. He was met by 
the American commander, Major Hall, with his 
militiamen close at his back. Speaking in a voice 
loud enough to be heard by all, FitzGibbon sum- 
moned them to surrender. " I see you are all militia, 
and I do not wish to be killing the husbands, fathers 
and brothers of your innocent families. You shall 
all be allowed to retire on parole." 

He had scarcely finished, when the men broke their 
ranks and made off down the hill towards Buffalo as 
fast as they could run. 

"Stop your men, Major Hall," called out Fitz- 
Gibbon, though secretly delighted at the success of 
his speech, " this is quite irregular while negotiating 
under a flag of truce." 

" I know it, sir," replied the indignant officer, " but 
I cannot stop them." 

" Then I must detain you as my prisoner," answered 
FitzGibbon; but upon Major Hall reiterating his 
inability to " stop his men," he added, " I see it, sir, 
therefore I will not detain you ; you may retire." 

Colonel Bisshopp now came up. Eight large boats 
belonging to the enemy were seized, loaded with two 
12-pounders, one 6-pounder, a large quantity of pro- 
visions and military stores, and sent over to the 



HO A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Canadian side in charge of about half his men. The 
barracks and block-house, sufficient to accommodate 
five thousand men, were burned, and a schooner also 

set on fire. 

Had Colonel Bisshopp been content with such 
measure of success, the enterprise had ended without 
loss, but excited by the unexpected result he refused 
to listen to FitzGibbon. He wished to carry off four 
hundred barrels of salt that were piled on the beach. 

FitzGibbon knew that the panic caused by his 
bold words among the American militia would be 
only temporary — the light of the burning buildings 
would discover the small number of the attacking 
party, and unless they put the river speedily between 
them and the enemy the result would be fatal. 

FitzGibbon never liked to speak of this, and in all 
his brief accounts of the affair I can find only the 
following statement regarding this part of it : 

" The details of what followed I am unwilling to 
give, because it would be imputing blame to others 
and taking credit to myself. I will only add that we 
remained longer than was needed, and were attacked 
by a body of militia and Indians. About half of our 
own force having been already sent back to our own 
shore with the captured boats, the other half were 
driven to their boats, leaving behind a captain and 
fifteen men killed and wounded, and having twenty- 
seven killed and wounded in our boats. Colonel 
Bisshopp himself was wounded on shore and carried 
to a boat. He received two wounds more in the boat, 
of which he died five days after. 



A GALLANT RESCUE. Ill 

" For no man fallen in battle did I grieve so much 
as for him. He was a man of most gentle and gener- 
ous nature, and was more beloved by the militia, over 
whom he was an inspecting field officer, than any 
other who served in the province during the war. 
But he wanted either experience or judgment, and 
fell in consequence in the prime of life, in the twenty- 
eighth year of his age." 

From other sources, recollections of hearing the 
story as told by some who shared the enterprise, I 
have been able to piece together what the soldier 
could not tell himself.* 

The blazing buildings attracted the Indians. The 
militiamen, ashamed of their panic, when reinforced 
by Major Parker and the force at Buffalo, returned 
and attacked the British with irresistible spirit Fitz- 
Gibbon, true to his command, endeavored to rally his 
men and cover the retreat, but the disorder was too 
great. In the confusion the wounded colonel nar- 
rowly escaped being left in the enemy's hands. Some 
of the boats had already been pushed off, when the 
cry arose that the colonel was wounded and down. 
FitzGibbon shouted, " To the rescue ! " Then as the men 
still scrambled for the boats, he called out, " Come, 
my lads, we'll try for him anyway," and followed by 
a handful of the devoted "Green uns," made a rush 
and succeeded in rescuing and carrying the wounded 



* Losing refers to this in his " Pictorial History of the War" — in 
a note — where he says : "He (Bisshopp) was taken care of by the 
gallant FitzGibbon and carried to the boats," etc. 



112 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

officer to the boat. Alas, that the few strokes willing 
arms plied could not evade the shot which carried 
death with it. 

In reading the few private letters extant, and the 
scanty allusions to the condition of the army employed 
on the frontier of Upper Canada during the summer 
and autumn campaigns of 1813-14, one learns some- 
thing of the hardships and suffering patiently endured 
by the men. The breaking down of the commissariat 
here, as in the other quarters both before and since, 
was the cause of much unnecessary privation and 
anxiety on the part of those in command, who, for 
want of the material and adequate supplies, were 
unable to take advantage of either their own military 
success or the blunders of their adversaries. The 
often heavy loss of life, the cruel carnage, the heap 
of slain which marked the taking of the enemy's 
guns, the loss of the hastily erected battery, or a 
determined stand against the onslaught of the enemy, 
appear much more terrible under the reflection that 
had the duty of those at headquarters to furnish the 
machinery of war been more faithfully performed, 
much of it might have been saved. When one 
reads, too, of battles fought and won, of daring 
deeds done in the face of the foe, victories won 
against great odds, one scarcely realizes that the 
report of killed and wounded is more than mere 
statistics, and is apt to dwell upon the comparison of 
a small numerical loss with the greater as the chief 
item of congratulation. 



SUFFERING SOLDIERS. 113 

On the contrary, the weary record of men dying 
singly of fever, exposure, or deprivation of the abso- 
lute necessaries of life, due to an inefficient commis- 
sariat, acquires an importance out of all proportion 
to the actual loss. A soldier will understand this. 
Would he not rather die a hundred deaths in the 
moment of victory, than one on the lingering, weari- 
ful bed of fever in camp ? 

A touch is given here and there in a private letter, 
a bitter word of censure levelled against the Com- 
missariat department, of indignation at the appar- 
ently wilful ignorance of the situation displayed by 
the Home Government, or even as near the scene of 
action as the headquarters at Kingston ; a bare fact 
stated in official despatches, or a sympathetic regret 
expressed by an officer for the useless sufferings of 
his men ; these are all we have to enable us to judge 
of the daily life of the soldier watching and waiting 
on the Niagara frontier. 

" On my arrival here I found the troops in great 
distress for necessaries, shirts, shoes and stockings. 
Most of the 49th are literally naked" writes James 
J. Fulton, A.D.C. to Sir George Prevost, on June 18th. 
The italics are his. (Canadian Archives.) 

Speaking of the 41st on July 14th, General De 
Rottenburg says : " That regiment is in rags, and 
without shoes." (Ibid.) 

The letters of that date reveal a history of weari- 
some marches and counter-marches, unceasing vigi- 



114 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

lance, long watches, miserable worn-out camping 
necessaries, where there were any at all, and scarcity 
of provisions and medicine. 

The anxiety of the poor settlers, who were also 
soldiers, to harvest their crops and save the produce 
of their farms for their own use, their reluctance to 
sell at any price, necessitated the placing of districts 
in the immediate vicinity of the headquarters under 
martial law. 

The inefficiency of the officials, who omitted to take 
stock of the quantity of stores of either food or am- 
munition; the harassing character of the warfare in 
the forest; the heat, drenching rains, sickness, and 
the anxiety of each scattered handful of troops for 
the safety or success of the others, knoAving that the 
defeat of one added tenfold to the dangers to be 
incurred by the other; and the mystery and uncer- 
tainty in which the intentions of the Commander- 
in-Chief were shrouded, even to the officers imme- 
diately under his command, added to the great dis- 
tance from their homes and all that life held dear to 
them, rendered the situation a most trying one for 
both officers and men to endure with patience. 

' For many months past the prospect has appeared 
so clouded to my imagination, and men and measures 
so different to those which you and others have so 
repeatedly expatiated on with sensations of pleasure 
and confidence, that I have been for months a silent 
spectator of events which I durst not trust my pen to 
dwell on. A veil of mystery and seclusion has, alas, 



PROJECTED ATTACK ON NIAGARA. 115 

but too long been the prevalent feature in this part 
of the world."* 

Sickness decimated the ranks, and the great heat 
increased the dangers. 

" The weather is intensely hot," writes General De 
Rottenburg from St. David's, 30th of August, in a 
private letter to Sir George Prevost, " and everybody 
is more or less affected by it. Colonels Stewart, Plen- 
derleath, May, Williams, FitzGibbon, and a great 
number of others are laid up with the lake fever. 
We are in great want of medicine and wine for the 
sick." 

Colonel Plenderleath had been obliged to retire 
from the outposts at Long Point on July 31st, owing 
to the great heat, drenching rains, and the sickness 
among his men. 

In the list of the troops to be employed on the 
south side of the river in the projected attack on 
Forts Niagara and George, on August 24th, are 350 
of the 49th under Major Plenderleath, including the 
party of Lieut. FitzGibbon. 

In the plan of attack, the Light Corps under Gen- 
eral Vincent are detailed " to rendezvous at the head- 
quarters at St. David's; a sufficiency of boats and 
craft to be previously at a convenient place for cross- 
ing the river between Lewiston and the Fort. The 
Voltigeurs, Lieut. FitzGibbon's party and the Indians 
to cross in the leading boats, and to possess themselves 



* Extract from a letter written by Major Glegg, 49th Regiment, 
from camp at Cross, to the Hon. William Dummer Powell, Oct. 8th, 
1813. 



116 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

of the woody, close country near the fort. Major 
Plenderleath to attack and possess himself of the 
guns and batteries on the bank of the river facing 
Fort George."* 

There is no record of this carefully planned attack 
upon Fort Niagara having been carried out, except 
that portion of it under Major Plenderleath, including 
Lieut. FitzGibbon's party. The enemy were driven 
in to their inner works, and fourteen prisoners taken. 
The 49th had two officers and three rank and file 
wounded. 

The tidings of the defeat of General Proctor at 
Moraviantown on the 5th of October, and the prob- 
able fate of the remnant of his small but brave force, 
made instant retreat imperative. 

" My friend General V has only one decision 

to make, and, if I do not greatly err, his time is very 
short. Our sick and baggage are hastening to the 
rear, and I hope to God we may follow them to- 
morrow," writes one of the bravest and best officers of 
the 49th, from camp at Cross, Oct. 8th. " I shall not 
consider our retreat safe until we reach Burlington, 
and little advantage can arise from remaining there. 
I have this instant received a private note from Fort 
George, from a source to be depended on, which men- 
tions that the Indians have been crossing all morning 
to this side, and an attack has been promised by 
Major Chapin this night or to-morrow, "-f 

* Canadian Archives, 1812, p. 480. 

t Major Glegg to the Hon. William Dummer Powell, from camp 
at Cross, October 8th, 1813. 



A RETREAT. 117 

That this promise was not kept, the miserable con- 
dition of the retreating British force discovered, and 
a hot pursuit, of more than possible success, made by 
the American army, was due entirely to the bold 
front, the vigilance and bravery of the light troops 
covering the retreat. 

On the 14th, Major Glegg again writes to Mr. 
Powell, from headquarters, Bensley's : 

" I am obliged to send you hasty but very impor- 
tant details of our proceedings. Your consideration 
must make the necessary allowance. We arrived 
here (Bensley's) on the 12th, after undergoing a very 
harassing march for our poor fellows, particularly the 
numerous sick, whose pallid countenances cut me to 
the quick. The elements were most unkind during 
our retreat, but anything was pleasing after quitting 
that sink of disease on the Twelve Mile Creek, where 
an inactive residence had nearly annihilated as fine a 
body of men as were ever led against an enemy. Our 
men are comparatively comfortable in this position. 
They are all under cover, but of course barns will 
not last much longer. Considering all things, the 
casualties of our retreat have been very trifling. 
Fortunately the enemy did not pursue us. Colonel 
Murray brought up the rear with the 100th and 
Light Company of the King's, and he is still at the 
Forty Mile, merely waiting until the bateaux with 
the sick have passed it. He will then fall back upon 
Stony Creek, watching the two roads on the right 
and left of that place. 

" Of our further movements I can give you no cer- 
tain information at present. A plain statement of 
our situation has been transmitted to Kingston and 



118 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Montreal, and the wisdom of others must decide the 
ultimate fate of this once efficient army. At all 
events nothing will be done, unless compelled by the 
enemy, before our sick are sent off." 

According to the records of the 49 th, that regiment 
marched for the Forty Mile Creek on October 2nd, 
embarked in bateaux for York on October 4th, and 
re-embarked for Kingston on the 5th, reaching that 
place on the 11th ; yet Major Glegg writes on the 14th, 
without making any reference to the departure of his 
own regiment, or of its having been separated from 
the main body before their retreat from the frontier. 

The rest in barracks in the more comfortable 
quarters afforded them in Kingston was of short 
duration. When the American army, under the com- 
mand of General Wilkinson, crossed the St. Lawrence 
below Kingston early in November, the 49th was 
brigaded with the 89th and detachments of the Cana- 
dian Fencibles and Voltigeurs, the whole under the 
command of Colonel Plenderleath, and sent to watch 
the movements of the enemy. 

On the 11th, the battle of Chrysler's Farm was 
fought, but of it FitzGibbon gives no detail. He was 
still with his old regiment, as he distinctly says that 
he did not join the Glengarry Fencibles, in which his 
promotion had given him a company, until January, 
1814. He remained with the 49th until that regi- 
ment reached Montreal on December 16th, and joined 
the Fencibles at Kingston, where they were quartered 
in January, 1814. 



OSWEGO 119 




CHAPTEK VII. 

JHE campaign of 1814 was begun soon after the 
opening of navigation. The first important 
engagement was the attack upon Oswego on 
May 6th, in which the light companies of the Glen- 
garry Regiment were attached to De Watteville's 
regiment. 

The landing in the face of a shower of grape and 
round shot, followed by the storming of the hill and 
capture of the batteries, was a brilliant affair. The 
Glengarries, who covered the left flank of the troops 
in the advance, added a share in the honors of one 
more victory to their former reputation. 

The regiment remained stationed in Kingston until 
early in June, when they were again ordered to York, 
and in July were sent forward to the Niagara fron- 
tier, there to take part in the " most active and severe 
campaigns of any during the war. But it afforded no 
opportunity of doing anything individually," writes 
FitzGibbon. " I was almost constantly employed in 
the advance, and the Glengarry Regiment forming 
part of the small brigade under Colonel (now Sir 
Thomas) Pearson, he was best acquainted with me 
that summer, and to him I would gladly refer for 
his opinion of me." * 

* Letter to Sir Augustus d'Este, May, 1841. 



120 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

On the 5th of July the enemy, three thousand strong, 
were repulsed with spirit by a small British force from 
Fort Mississauga, and Major-General Riall urged the 
advance of troops from York to enable him to act 
upon the offensive, "while the militia and Indians 
are flushed with their success, and their enthusiasm 
against the enemy is still burning with indignation 
at the wanton destruction of houses and property at 
St. David's, every house between Queenston and the 
Falls having been burned by them."* 

Information was obtained from deserters (one of 
whom candidly acknowledges " a fear of hard fight- 
ing" as his reason for deserting) of the advance of 
the enemy upon Fort George,*f- seven or eight thousand 
strong, with heavy guns and mortars ; of the building 
of the batteries at Youngstown and other points to 
bear upon the forts and prevent the advance of gun- 
boats to their assistance ; of the confidence of success 
which animated the enemy's ranks owing to their 
superior numbers. This information is conveyed in 
detail to Major-General Drummond in Major Riall's 
despatches of this date. 

It is not my intention to enter into the details of 

* Canadian Archives. 

f Fort George had been occupied by General Murray when evacu- 
ated by McClure on December 12th, 1813, who, on the 9th, had 
committed the dastardly outrage of burning the town of Newark 
(Niagara) in order to prevent the British being able to winter in 
Fort George. Fort Niagara had been taken by assault on Decem- 
ber 18th, and a bitter revenge wreaked on the American frontier in 
retaliation for the burning of Niagara. 



REINFORCEMENTS NEEDED. 121 

the defending force, the weakness of the British, the 
small garrisons, the sort of make-shifts of guns 
mounted in Fort George, the anxiety caused by the 
short-sighted policy of one of our officers in permit- 
ting the American Indians to attend a council meet- 
ing held by those allied to the British, " thereby 
arousing much dissatisfaction amongst our Indians 
and western people." 

The delay in the arrival of the much-needed rein- 
forcements created fear lest the ardor of the militia 
for revenge should cool, or their numbers be decreased 
by the necessity of returning to their farms to cut 
the hay receiving damage already from neglect. 

Major- General Riall does not exaggerate the situa- 
tion when he speaks of himself as " being in a very 
unpleasant predicament." He had not sufficient men 
or guns at his command to relieve Fort George without 
endangering the safety of the whole province. He 
could not proceed against the enemy in one direction 
without the risk of being outflanked and surrounded 
on the one hand, or of losing the forts on the other. 

Lieut.-Colonel Tucker, who was in command at 
Fort George, had watched with intense interest and 
apprehension the great preparations being made by 
the enemy to attack it. The report of the engineers 
who had been sent some time previously to inspect 
the condition of the defences of that important post, 
was unfavorable. Fort George was not in a condition 
to withstand a cannonade. The necessity for re- 
inforcements and concerted measures, to enable the 
8 



122 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

British to attack the enemy before their offensive 
works were completed, was imminent. The enemy- 
had crossed the River Niagara, had erected and were 
still erecting further batteries, from which they might 
attack the fort, or cover their retreat if they were 
repulsed. Major-General Drummond had pushed on 
all the force at his command, and was hastening him- 
self to support Generals Riall and Tucker. He had 
sent on the Glengarry Regiment in advance, and on 
the 22nd of July we find General Riall again reiterat- 
ing the necessity of haste and of all available support. 
All the details may be gleaned from letters now in 
the Canadian Archives, but I must endeavor to con- 
fine myself as much as is possible to those only in 
which FitzGibbon is mentioned. 

" Twelve Mile Creek, July 22nd, 1814. 

" Sir, — I had the honor to write to you this morn- 
ing by Captain Jarvis, and enclosed you a letter I had 
from Lieut. -Colonel Tucker, stating his apprehensions 
for the safety of Fort George, from the vast prepara- 
tions the enemy seemed to be employed in making 
for its reduction, and urging me to advance imme- 
diately to its relief. About 3 o'clock p.m., I received 
a report from Captain FitzGibbon of the Glengarry 
Regiment, whom I had sent out with a party for the 
purpose of reconnoitring and gaining information of 
the enemy's intentions, that he had withdrawn from 
his position before Fort George, and was again falling 
back upon Queenston. From the top of the hill over 
that place, where Captain FitzGibbon was, he was 
enabled to see his whole force, which was in column 
extending from near the village to De Puisaye's house. 



lundy's lane. 123 

The waggons and baggage seemed to be halted at 
Brown's. When Captain FitzGibbon left the hill, 
which he was obliged to do by the advance of a body 
of cavalry and riflemen, the column was moving 
towards St. David's, and when about a thousand 
centred into that direction, it was halted. Captain 
FitzGibbon was obliged to retire with his party 
through St. David's, and was pursued about a mile 
upon the road leading from thence to this place. I 
understand some riflemen have advanced to within 
a mile of the Ten Mile Creek, which is the rendezvous 
for Lieut. -Colonel Parry's brigade of militia. That 
officer has been indefatigable in his exertions, and has 
acquired great influence with the militia. I have 
directed Lieut.-Colonel Pearson to detach two com- 
panies of the Glengarry Regiment to his support, and 
he has beside a considerable number of Indians with 
him." — (General Riall to Major-General Drummond, 
Canadian Archives.) 

The battle of Lundy's Lane was one of the hardest 
fought and most important engagements of the war. 
Waged at night, in darkness and against a superior 
force, augmented by relays of fresh troops, it was a 
hand-to-hand conflict, and nobly did the British hold 
their ground. The particulars of the struggle have so 
often been recounted, that I need not dwell upon 
them here. The Glengarry Regiment had been sent 
in advance to reconnoitre the American camp at Chip- 
pewa, and watch the movements of the enemy. They 
occupied the high ground near Lundy's Lane, and 
were given the post they had occupied before — the 
right wing of the army. At first the principal attack 



124 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

was sustained by the left and centre, but before the 
close of the engagement the right had their share of 
the fighting. On the defeat and retreat of the enemy, 
who were in such haste to return to Fort Erie that 
they threw the greater part of their camping equipage 
and provisions into the rapids, the light troops were 
detached in pursuit. 

In General Drummond's report of the battle, he 
speaks of the Glengarry Regiment as displaying 
"most valuable qualities as light troops." (Des- 
patches, July 26th, 1814.) 

A sharp affair of outposts took place between the 
pickets of the rival camps before Fort Erie on the 
8 th of August. 

The enemy threw out the whole of his riflemen 
into the woods for the purpose of driving out the 
British Indians. At first they appeared to be success- 
ful. The Indians retired rapidly on the advance pick- 
ets, carrying them with them. The retreat was, how- 
ever, only temporary. The Glengarry Regiment ad- 
vanced with promptitude and great spirit, and, being 
supported by the reserve, the Americans were driven 
back and the advance post re-established. In this 
engagement the regiment had two men killed, seven 
wounded, one taken prisoner and two reported as 
missing.* 

'I cannot forbear," writes Lieut.-General Drum- 
mond, from his headquarters camp before Fort Erie, 
on August the 12th, " taking this occasion of express- 

* Canadian Archives, 685, page 47. 



A REQUEST FOR LEAVE. 125 

ing to your Excellency my most marked approbation 
of the uniform exemplary good conduct of the Glen- 
garry Light Infantry and Incorporated Militia — the 
former under the command of Lieut. -Colonel Batters- 
by, and the latter under Major Kirby. These two 
corps have constantly been in close contact with the 
enemy's outposts and riflemen during the severe 
service of the last fortnight. Their steadiness and 
gallantry, as well as their superiority as light troops, 
have on every occasion been conspicuous." Yet it 
was just at this time that one of the officers of the 
Glengarry Regiment asked for leave. 

The story of FitzGibbon's marriage has been told 
so often as a romantic incident of a soldiers life by 
those who heard it at second or third hand from his 
fellow-soldiers, that it is difficult to ascertain the 
correct details of time and distance with sufficient 
accuracy to put the story into print. I can find no 
record of it among his papers, yet my readers will 
readily recognize that a man of FitzGibbon's char- 
acter would be of all men the most unlikely to tell 
it on paper, although by a friendly fireside it might 
be frequently alluded to among those who were his 
companions in arms at the front. 

FitzGibbon was certainly with his regiment during 
the whole campaign, with the exception of the few 
days for which, to the astonishment of his colonel, 
he asked leave, asking without giving any reason 
for such an apparently unreasonable request. It is 
safe, perhaps, to say that no other officer but Fitz- 



126 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Gibbon would have had such a request granted. His 
reputation as a capable officer and for great personal 
bravery stood his friend.* 

His word that the need of leave was important to 
him, that he would return before any decisive battle 
was fought and his presence required, was sufficient. 
Permission was given, and the soldier set off to meet 
his bride. 

Despatches were sent to the Commander-in-Chief 
at Kingston on the 8th of August, and again on the 
10th. Whether FitzGibbon was the bearer of either 
we have no means of ascertaining, but he certainly 
found some means of sending a private despatch by one 
or either of them to the girl he was engaged to marry. 



* Lieut. -Colonel Bullock in his ' ' Operations of the Army under 
General Wolfe," published in the columns of the Canadian Loyalist 
and Spirit of 1812, Kingston, June 13th, 1844, tells the following 
anecdote of FitzGibbon apropos of the bursting of shells from the 
enemy's guns : 

' Those shells are very dangerous customers, and yet they some- 
times afford amusement, for I remember in August, 1814, Colonel 
FitzGibbon and myself were on picket together near our batteries 
before Fort Erie, he with his company of the Glengarry Light 
Infantry, and I with my Grenadiers of the 41st. The batteries and 
Fort Erie were exchanging fire. It was a fine summer day, and we 
were seated on the ground amidst some young second-growth oak 
trees. FitzGibbon was quoting with great volubility some parts of 
the ' Rejected Addresses,' when suddenly a shell burst in the air 
close to us, and my brave friend's tongue received an immediate 
check, and no wonder, for the fragments of shell made an awful 
clatter among the trees; we were fortunate enough to remain 
uninjured, and away went my friend again at the 'Rejected 
Addresses,' as rapidly as ever. Such is courage." 



A ROMANTIC MARRIAGE. 127 

He bade her meet him in Adolphustown, then an 
important little town on the road between Kingston 
and York.* 

Landing at the Carrying-place, he rode sixty miles 
to the church door. On Sunday, the 14th of August, 
he was married to Mary Haley, by the Rev. George 
O'Kill Stewart, the Church of England minister at 
Kingston, by license, in the presence of Gavin H. 
Hamilton and R. MacKay. 

The knot tied, the soldier said farewell to his wife 
on the church steps, and rode back to keep his word 
to his colonel. 

The condition of affairs on the frontier, hard fight- 
ing, privation and sickness being the inevitable order 

In an editorial column of the same paper from which the above 
is taken is the following paragraph : 

" Under the head of ' Operations of Wolfe's army before Quebec,' 
the conclusion of which will be found in the first page, there is an 
anecdote given by the gallant author (C. J. Bullock) which fully 
bears out the character for resoluteness and mng-froid ever 
attributed to the old Forty-ninther. Those only, however, will 
feel an interest in the anecdote who have ever seen a shell forced 
from an enemy into the heart of his own position. They, on the 
contrary, whose knowledge of the effect of shells is confined to a 
few field days when men play at soldiers, cannot be expected to 
understand either the danger to which Colonel FitzGibbon was 
exposed, or the piquancy of the composure he manifested on this 



occasion." 



* Adolphustown was settled almost entirely by the U. E. Loyal- 
ists, who came over from the opposite shore of the lake upon the 
Declaration of Independence. It boasted of a court house and 
registrar, and still possesses one of the oldest churches, if not 
indeed the oldest, in the Province. 



[28 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

of the day; his regiment being always sent to the 
nt, and the officers exposed to constant danger; the 
possibility, indeed, the probability, of an American 
bullet finding a billet in his breast, and the girl he 
loved being thus left unprovided for, seemed to Fitz- 
Gibbon ample justification for such an extraordinary 
and romantic step. If he fell, as his widow she would 
be entitled to a pension and thus be provided for. 

The notes and letters from which I have taken the 
principal incidents of FitzGibbon's life were written 
after his wife's death; there is no particular mention 
of her in them. Always delicate, the tragic death of 
one of their sons in 1834 was a blow from which she 
never recovered. She died in Toronto, on March 22nd, 
1841, and was laid beside her brother-in-law, Simon 
Washburn, in St. James' churchyard. His tomb- 
stone is still to be seen close under the walls of the 

ist aisle. 

There are two or three fragments of loving letters 
extant, written during their rare separations from 
each other, but none of any interest to the public. 

From several books in my possession, such as the 

Beauties of Hervey," on the fly- leaf of which is 
written her name and the words, " From a friend in 
the 49th, Quebec," and in ink of a later date, the 
initials, "J. F. G.," Mrs. FitzGibbon must have been 
a woman of some taste and education. She was not 
a society woman, and is only remembered among the 
few remaining friends as one whose health kept her 
a close prisoner to the house. FitzGibbon always 



THE CAMP BEFORE FORT ERIE. 129 

spoke of her with sadness and loving pity ; her eldest 
son with the devotion of one to whom she had been 
a good mother and a tender dependent charge. 

The privations suffered by the troops, the want 
of provisions, ammunition and clothing, had begun 
to assume alarming proportions by the 18th of 
August, 1814. 

Constant skirmishes with the enemy, the wanton 
destruction of the crops, the harrying of the settlers' 
cattle and burning of their barns, stores and mills, 
roused the strongest feeling against the Americans, 
and kept the force camped before Fort Erie con- 
stantly on the alert. The erection of batteries to be 
directed against Fort Erie or reinforcements from 
the American shore occupied every available man and 
moment. The light troops were employed constantly 
in the advance to protect the men at work. Early 
in September the rain set in with such violence that 
the discomfort of the men was much increased. The 
roads were rendered almost impassable for artillery. 
The enemy had been largely reinforced from the 
opposite shores and had an ample supply of ammuni- 
tion, while the weakened British force were reduced 
to counting their rounds and were in hourly antici- 
pation of attack. This was indeed ardently desired 
by men and officers alike. Too weak to assume the 
offensive, they yet felt themselves equal to resisting 
an attack and proving to the enemy that they still 
bad British soldiers and British pluck against them. 

General Drummond speaks about this period of the 



130 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

campaign, as one "which has been marked by a 
series of unlucky circumstances, as well as, of late, 
by severe hardships and privations on the part of the 
troop 9, who, I am most happy in reporting, have borne 
them with the utmost cheerfulness and have evinced 
a degree of steadiness and spirit highly honorable 
to them " 

FitzGibbon was sent to Kingston in September 
with despatches from the camp before Fort Erie, 
which resulted in Major-General Stovin being ordered 
to Lieut. -General Drummond's support. In a letter 
now among the papers buried in the Militia Depart- 
ment at Ottawa, FitzGibbon is spoken of as being in 
charge of a convoy with stores and necessaries for the 
front. In another and later letter he is addressed 
as " in command of the incorporated militia now on 
the frontier at Niagara." 

There are probably other letters among these buried 
records in which FitzGibbon's name occurs, but the 
bundles being as yet unsorted, I was not allowed 
further access to them. 

FitzGibbon accompanied Major-General Stovin 
when he joined Drummond on September 17th. On 
the 19th, the Americans attacked the batteries so 
recently erected by the British, " the fire from which 
annoyed them much." (Despatch to Washington.) 

The attack was made under cover of a heavy fire 
from their artillery, and with their whole force, 
amounting to about five thousand men. The state of 
the roads and the torrents of rain falling at the time 



HARD FIGHTING. 131 

enabled them to succeed in turning the right of the 
line of pickets without being perceived. A simul- 
taneous attack being made on the batteries, they 
penetrated as far as No. 4 picket. 

" I myvself," writes Drummond, " witnessed the good 
order and spirit with which the Glengarry Light In- 
fantry under Lieut.-Colonel Battersby pushed into 
the wood, and by their superior fire drove back the 
enemy's light troops." (Canadian Archives.) 

Lieut.-Colonel Pearson, with the Glengarry Light 
Infantry under Lieut.-Colonel Battersby, pushed* for- 
ward by the centre road, attacked and carried with 
great gallantry the new entrenchment then in full 
possession of the enemy. (Ibid.) The British line of 
pickets was again established as it had been before 
the attack. 

The American general, writing from Fort Erie, 
speaks of this sortie as one " which, as respects hard 
fighting, is not excelled by any one since the war." 
The American loss was much greater than the British, 
the loss of officers being exceptionally great. The 
situation on the Niagara frontier was critical. The 
enemy were increasing their force at every point, and 
had even induced their militia to cross to Fort Erie 
to the number of three thousand. 

Fort Niagara had been so damaged by the incessant 
rain as to render it unfit to resist an attack. The 
difficulty of obtaining provisions was increasing. Am- 
munition was short; the men in need of clothing, 
many of them in rags, and entire companies without 



[32 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

B hoes ; the roads so bad that the heavy ordnance could 
nut be moved without great difficulty; their camps 
pitched literally in the water on a swampy ground ; 
the nights growing cold, the early mornings frosty, 
and sickness increasing; constant vigilance, frequent 
roll calls, and skirmishes with the enemy harassing 
the men. The sickness among the troops increased 
to an alarming extent, while an incessant downpour of 
thirteen consecutive days rendered the camp a lake 
in the midst of a thick wood. 

The extreme wretchedness caused by these circum- 
st mces determined Lieut.-General Drummond to order 
a retreat towards Chippewa, to about a mile from 
their present camping-ground, where, " if attacked, 
better conditions would enable the brave handful of 
troops which I command to at least have the advan- 
tage of fighting on ground somewhat open." (Gen. 
Drummond's despatch, Sept. 21st.) 

The retreat was well executed, disturbed merely by 
the advance of the enemy's pickets, who were driven 
hack by the British, and the new camp occupied on 
the 22nd. Here, too, we find the Glengarry Regiment 
forming part of the advance, in case the enemy 
should attempt to penetrate towards Chippewa in 
t'< >rce," to " guard and prevent the enemy crossing 
Black Creek." (Archives, page 268.) 

Reports of the enemy having received large rein- 
forcements of regular troops reaching him, General 
Drummond decided to further concentrate his force 
behind Chippewa, and with the advance composed of 



RETREAT OF THE AMERICANS. 133 

the Light Companies of the 6th, 82nd, and 97th 
regiments under Major Stewart, the Glengarry Light 
Infantry, a squadron of the 9th Dragoons, and one 
gun, the whole under the command of Lieut.-Colonel 
Battersby, be prepared " to withstand any attack he 
(the enemy) might make upon the position." 

The movements of the enemy and the rumored 
extent of his reinforcements rendered it prudent to 
withdraw the defending force yet nearer to Chippewa, 
although advance posts were still left a little in front 
of Black Creek. These advance posts were " fifty 
men of the Glengarry Light Infantry." The remainder 
of the regiment were stationed at Street's Grove. 
(Canadian Archives, C. 686.) 

" On the evening of the 13th, the enemy advanced 
to Black Creek, and having effected the passage of 
that creek during the night, he continued his advance 
as far as Street's Grove on the following morning, 
the Glengarry Light Infantry retiring before him 
with the utmost regularity. A line of pickets was 
taken up at a short distance in front of the tete de 
pont, and occupied until the morning, when they 
were obliged to retire into the works before the 
whole of the enemy's army." (Ibid. p. 31.) 

The fire from his guns continued the whole day, 
but at night he retired to his camp at Street's Grove. 
During the 16th, he continued to deploy columns of 
infantry in front of the British position at the mouth 
of the Chippewa, without, however, venturing within 
the range of the guns. About one o'clock on the 17th, 



134 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

his troops disappeared. Pickets were immediately 
thrown out, and both cavalry and infantry pushed in 
different directions to reconnoitre. The enemy had 
abandoned Street's Grove and retired to Black Creek. 
The steadiness of the retreat of the Glengarry Regi- 
ment, and the position of the British being stronger 
than they had anticipated, as well as the rumored 
approach of the British fleet on the lake, were the 
probable causes of this sudden retreat on the part of 
the Americans. 

On the 18th, a large body moved up Black Creek 
in the direction of Cook's Mills, on Lyon's Creek. 
The Glengarry Light Infantry are here again to the 
front. They, with seven companies of the 82nd, were 
immediately sent in that direction. Upon the receipt 
of further tidings of the enemy's force and probable 
intentions, the 100th Regiment, and the three re- 
maining companies of the 82nd, with one gun, were 
ordered to join them. With this force, in all about 
750, Colonel Meyers was ordered to " feel the enemy 
very closely." 

Colonel Meyers carried out his instructions, and, in 
his letter to Major-General Drummond, speaks very 
highly of the conduct of the Glengarry Infantry. " I 
found the enemy's advance," he writes, " with a strong 
support, posted on the right bank of a ravine which 
runs to Lyon's Creek, a small distance from the mills. 
A part of the Glengarry Regiment turned down a 
small wood, which covered the front of the enemy, 
and crossed the head of the ravine, whilst the remain- 



THE BRAVE GLENGARRY MEN. 135 

der passed through the wood. By this movement the 
enemy's light troops were driven back in admirable 
style, whilst a part of his force crossed Lyon's Creek 
for the purpose of annoying our left. Having chiefly 
the recognizance in view, and finding that object not 
to be attainable by a forward movement, from the 
thickness of the woods, I retired the Glengarry Regi- 
ment, and fell back a small distance in the hope of 
drawing the enemy forth to the open ground, and, if 
circumstances would justify it, to bring him to a more 
general action." (Canadian Archives.) 

The force thus coaxed into action or skirmish, from 
which they suffered greatly, amounted to from 1,500 
to 2,000. " The conduct of the Glengarry Regiment 
during the campaign has been so conspicuous, that 
Lieut. -Colonel Battersby and the officers and men of the 
corps can receive little further praise from any report 
of mine, but on this occasion I cannot refrain from 
adding my humble tribute of applause to their earned 
fame." (Colonel Meyers' letter.) 

This was replied to by a letter to the troops from 
the Lieut.-General, thanking them for their gallant 
behaviour. 

In the General Orders of October 22nd, the regi- 
ment is brigaded with Major-General De Watte ville's, 
and formed at Street's: 

The success of Colonel Meyers' reconnaissance re- 
sulted in the retreat of the American army. 

The American commander, General Brown, had 
detached two of his regiments to cover his retreat 



136 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

from Cook's Mills, and so well had the Glengarry 
Regiment " felt them " that they retreated in haste to 
the shelter of the guns the state of the roads had 
prevented their bringing with them, without stopping 
to burn the mills, or pausing to hazard the engage- 
ment their pursuers were so anxious to provoke. 

Falling back over the heights opposite Black Rock, 
they crossed over to their own shores, leaving only a 
few hundred in Fort Erie. Although General Drum- 
mond was able to report all the positions held by the 
British troops in good order, he was too well aware 
of the critical state of affairs, the want of provisions, 
the state of the roads, and the uncertainty of Sir James 
Yeo's movements on the lake, to heed the letters from 
headquarters urging him " not to let the season pass 
without striking some decisive blow." 

The retreat of the American army might well have 
been construed as a feint to draw the British on, that 
by turning their position and outflanking them, they 
might obtain by strategy what they had failed to 
accomplish by force. The British, however, were too 
well aware of the numerical superiority of their enemy 
to either imagine such a course necessary or doubt 
the reality of their retreat. 

General Drummond had faith in his advance pickets, 
in the vigilance of his officers, and in the impression 
the valor of his light troops had made upon the 
enemy. 

A rumor reaching the commanding officer that the 
enemy were about to evacuate Fort Erie, FitzGibbon 



CLOSE OF THE WAR. 137 

was detached with a small party to reconnoitre at 
closer quarters. 

True to his usual custom of going himself to the 
front when there was any risk of capture, or the 
information acted upon being incorrect, FitzGibbon 
posted his party in the wood, and rode forward alone 
to within a few yards of the fort. There appearing 
to be none of the usual signs of activity or life within 
its walls, he ventured nearer, and entering the fort 
rode through every part of it. 

The enemy had evacuated it only a few hours be- 
fore, having blown up the works and in every other 
respect completely dismantled and destroyed it, leav- 
ing nothing but ten or twelve kegs of damaged 
musket ball and cartridge. (Canadian Archives.) 

The Glengarry Regiment was destined for York, 
to be quartered there during the winter, but the 
movements of the enemy made it necessary to retain 
a force on the frontier. FitzGibbon's company was 
stationed at Turkey Point. 

Although the war was practically over, the country 
along the frontier and throughout the Niagara penin- 
sula had been so desolated, and was still in such a 
defenceless condition, a prey to bands of marauding 
freebooters, that the Glengarry Regiment had still 
some exercise for its abilities as light troops, in pur- 
suing these wretches and protecting the inhabitants. 

Upon the official declaration of the peace in March, 

the Glengarry Regiment was stationed at York. 

The knowledge of woodland warfare acquired dur- 
9 



138 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

ing these two campaigns on the frontier of Canada, 
bore fruit in after years in a paper written for the 
advice of his second son, when in 1840 he obtained 
for him a commission in the 24th Regiment (see 
Appendix VI.), then serving in Canada. 

The " Hints," as he calls the letter, were printed for 
private circulation among his soldier friends. The 
following letter from Sir John Harvey, at that time 
Lieut. -Governor of New Brunswick, is an acknow- 
ledgment of one of these sheets : 

"Government House, 
"New Brunswick, October 29th, 1840. 

" My Dear Sir, — It will always afford me, as it has 
ever done, very sincere satisfaction to hear of your 
welfare and of the high degree of esteem and respect 
which your public and private worth appears to have 
obtained for you, on the part not only of the author- 
ities under which you have acted, but of the com- 
munity in which you have lived. 

" I have not forgotten, nor am I capable of forget- 
ting, how admirably you justified my selection of you 
for a difficult and hazardous service — one from the 
able and successful accomplishment of which both the 
country and yourself reaped honor and advantage. 

"I thank you for the paper you have sent, but 
more for the warm expression of your friendly good- 
wishes, and accept mine for yourself and all your 
family, and believe me very faithfully yours, 

"J. Harvey. 
" Col. FitzGibbon, 

" Toronto." 



CIVIL APPOINTMENTS. 139 




CHAPTEK VIII. 

EFORE the disbanding of the Glengarry Fen- 
cibles, then stationed at York, in 1816, the 
Adjutant-General of Militia in Upper Canada 
offered FitzGibbon a position in his office at £125 
per annum. 

Although the salary was small, FitzGibbon gladly 
accepted it. Having no private means to draw upon 
when extra expenditure was required, the purchase 
of his uniform and horse, when first appointed to the 
adjutancy of the 49th, formed the nucleus of debt 
from which he was not entirely free until within a 

few years of his death. 

Generous, impulsive, and sanguine to a fault, Fitz- 
Gibbon could take no thought for the needs of the 
morrow when those possible contingencies were 
likely to fall upon himself. He could close neither 
his door, his purse, nor his kindly helpful sympathy 
to anyone ; he would give away his last penny, share 
his last crust, rather than turn a deaf ear to one in 
need of either. He used his influence to further the 
interests of others, without considering for a moment 
that he was thereby jeopardizing his own. His san- 
guine temperament always brightened the distant 
horizon, although the clouds overhead might be black 
and lowering. Simple in his living, of great physical 



140 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

strength and sound health, his creed was comprised in 
the brief maxim, " Trust in God and do good to your 
neighbor." Full of gratitude himself, he had faith in 
the gratitude of others. Knowing that the country 
owed him much, he never doubted that sooner or 
later the debt would be paid. How this confidence 
was misplaced and the reward of his work denied 
him, is the saddest part of his biography. Disap- 
pointment embittered for a time his warm-hearted, 
enthusiastic nature. The gradually increasing require- 
ments of a growing family, the accumulation of debt, 
the petty annoyances of the office, springing from 
the incapacity or ignorance of those above him, 
and the absence of generosity on the part of some 
whom he had served in spite of themselves, fretted 
his excitable nature almost to the verge of insanity. 
His self-unconsciousness and frequent disregard of 
appearances gained him the reputation at one time 
of being "just a little cracked" in the eyes of the 
dullards among his contemporaries. 

This, however, belongs to a later period of his 
biography. At present all was hopeful, happy with 
his wife and young children. Conscious of the value 
and capabilities of the new country, and of the field 
it might be made for the exercise of the talents, 
energies or loyalty of its population ; finding plenty 
to do to occupy his time, and being among the men 
and friends with whom he had fought for the country 
of his enforced adoption, Fitz Gibbon was then fairly 
content with his position and prospects. 




c 

O 

O 
H 



r- 1 
O 



o 



ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL. 141 

He lived at this time in a white house within the 
precincts of the fort, a house which I believe at one 
time formed part of the barracks. It has often been 
pointed out to me, as a child, as the house in which his 
eldest son was born. It is still standing. 

In 1819, finding the small salary from the office he 

! held insufficient to support a family, he resigned it 

: and devoted himself to the business of a land agent, 

which brought in larger returns. He also held the 

: office of Administrator of the Oath of Allegiance. 

In 1820, he was appointed one of the Justices of 
: the Peace in the Home District. His name appears 
frequently in the records of the Quarter Sessions 
during the succeeding years. 

In 1821, he was again offered an appointment in 

! the Adjutant- General's office, but refused to accept it 

: unless the salary was increased to ten shillings a day, 

that being the sum received by the senior clerks in 

:the other departments. 

The. Adjutant -General applied to Sir Peregrine 
Maitland, and an order -in -council was passed to 
grant the sum. FitzGibbon then accepted the post, 
retaining the privilege of administering the oath of 
allegiance with its attendant fees. 

In the following year, 1822, a readjustment of 
salaries was made in the department. FitzGibbon 
was raised to the position of Assistant Adjutant- 
General, but, to his intense indignation, his salary 
was reduced instead of being raised. The revenue at 



142 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

the disposal of the Provincial Government was small, 
and in order to increase the salary of the Adjutant- 
General, a decrease in those of the officials below him 
was necessary. FitzGibbon was unfortunate enough 
to be the principal sufferer. Although justly incensed 
at such treatment, and at the injustice of putting 
him in a position requiring greater expenditure, while 
lessening the means of defraying it, FitzGibbon, 
believing it must be remedied, retained the post. 

I have hitherto said nothing of FitzGibbon as a 
Freemason, although his name is intimately associated 
with the work of Masonry in Upper Canada. He 
had been made a Mason in and a member of the 
military lodge in Quebec, in 1803, when stationed 
there with Colonel Brock and the 49th. In the 
minutes of this Lodge No. 40, A. Y. M., held on August 
12th, 1813, at Petrie's Hotel, Quebec, is the follow- 
ing congratulatory notice of FitzGibbon's success at 
Beaver Dam : 

1 The recent events that bear testimony of the pro- 
fessional abilities of Lieut. FitzGibbon of the 49th 
Regiment, will be duly appreciated by his country, 
and the soldier receive a recompense worthy of the 
laurels he has earned. 

' All that concerns the reputation or interest of a 
brother Mason merits the attention of the fraternity 
in general, and becomes more immediately interesting 
to that Masonic Lodge to which he may have belonged. 
The members of Lodge No. 40 feel that they are 
called upon to express their admiration of the judg- 



MASONIC HONORS. 143 

ment arid bravery of Lieut. FitzGibbon, who they 
have had the satisfaction of taking by the hand as a 
member of their society, and they unanimously desire 
he will accept their fervent wishes that fortune may 
continue to afford him opportunities which his pro- 
fessional talents and manly character can improve to 
the advantage of his country and his own reputation. 
" Resolved unanimously, that a copy of the fore- 
going minute, signed by the officers of the lodge, be 
transmitted to Lieut. FitzGibbon of the 49th Regi- 
ment. 

" (Signed) Thomas Stott, W. W., 

Lodge No. 40. 

Wm. McCabe, S.W., No. 40. 

Pierre Doucet, J.W. 

Will. Gibson, Secy. No. 40." 

In 1822, when Simon McGillivray, the special craft 
envoy of the Duke of Sussex, the Grand Master of 
England, came to Canada to reorganize the craft, 
which had fallen into a somewhat shattered condition 
after the death of R.W. Bro. Jarvis, the Provincial 
Grand Master, he selected FitzGibbon as the Deputy 
Provincial Grand Master. It was a position of great 
honor, and his conduct of the affairs of the craft, 
particularly exemplified in his courteous bearing, his 
attention to the work and the excellent address which 
he prepared and gave to the craft, will forever keep 
his name bright in the annals of the fraternity in 
this country. 

As an instance of his thoughtfulness for his brethren 



i4 4, A VETERAN OF 1812. 

in the hour of trouble, the story is told, and though, 
as I have said in a former page, there is no written 
record of it among his papers, it is one that is gener- 
ally believed among the fraternity, who possibly have 
traditional data for it, and there is no reason why it 
should not be true. It is to the effect that on the 
day of the surrender at Beaver Dam, FitzGibbon 
discovered that two of the American officers, Lieut- 
Colonel Boerstler and Dr. Young, were members of a 
Masonic Lodge in New York city, and for the sake 
of the brotherhood, which they mutually loved, he 
displayed towards them after the surrender many 
kindly courtesies which made that dark day for our 
American friends less unhappy than it would other- 
wise have been. 

From the advance sheets of " Freemasonry in On- 
tario," by Mr. J. Ross Robertson, Past Grand Master 
of the Order, I have been permitted to make the 
following extracts which refer to the work of Fitz- 
Gibbon as a craftsman. His letter was written after 
his acceptance of the office, and the testimonial which 
accompanied it was one of which he might well be 
proud. Both the Lieutenant-Governor and his Sec- 
retary, Captain Hillier, were members of the craft. 
They knew the purpose for which the certificate was 
required, and were satisfied that the fraternity was 
being placed in good hands under the charge of Fitz- 
Gibbon. 

The labors of years were nearing completion in 



A MANLY LETTER. 145 

the latter days of 1821. With a due sense of the 
responsibility involved, and an evident appreciation 
of the honor conferred, Bro. James FitzGibbon, of 
York, acceded to the request and accepted the nomin- 
ation of Provincial Grand Master. His letter of 
acceptance, couched in courteous and fraternal words, 
was addressed to the Grand Secretary of England. 
Bro. FitzGibbon writes : 

" York, Upper Canada, 

"December 8th, 1821. 

" Right Worshipful Sir and Brother 

" Having accepted the offer of a recommendation 
to the very honorable and responsible situation of 
Provincial Grand Master in this Province, I do myself 
the honor of addressing you upon the occasion. 

" Although I am not devoid of ambition, I beg to 
assure you that I am not influenced by that feeling 
in acquiescing in the wishes of my brethren. I have 
given their request my best consideration, and have 
complied with it from a sense of duty and from a 
feeling of gratitude. 

" I am not insensible to the many and important 
duties which I would assume, and I know that at 
present I am not well qualified to discharge those 
duties. But having had some experience of what 
zeal and perseverance can do, I am emboldened to 
hope that, with the assistance and kind indulgence of 
the brethren, my humble efforts in their service may 
not be altogether unprofitable ; and that by our united 
efforts the characteristic harmony of the craft will 
be restored, and the reputation of Freemasonry in 



146 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

this province become not only irreproachable but 
honorable. 

" I have the honor to be, 
" Right worshipful sir, 

" Your faithful and obedient 

" Servant and brother, 
"James FitzGibbon. 

" To R.W. Bro. Edwajid Harper, Esq., 

" Grand Secretary, etc., etc., United Grand 
"Lodge of England, London. 

"Since writing the foregoing letter it has been 
suggested to me that some testimonial of my rank 
and character should be transmitted, to be produced 
should a question arise on these points. I have in 
consequence obtained of Sir Peregrine Maitland, our 
Lieut. -Governor, a certificate which His Excellency 
has been pleased to grant to me, and which I have 
the honor to transmit to you herewith. 

"James FitzGibbon/' 

That Bro. FitzGibbon stood in high esteem with 
the official head of the Province of Upper Canada, is 
attested by the following letter of recommendation : 



J Official Seal 1 
\ At Arms. / 

" By Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B., Lieut.-Gover- 
nor of the Province of Upper Canada, Major-General 
commanding His Majesty's forces therein, etc., etc. 

" To all whom it may concern. 

" Greeting : I do hereby certify that James Fitz- 
Gibbon, Esq., a captain on half pay, a magistrate in 
this province and a lieut. -colonel of militia, is a 



PRESENTATION OF COLORS. 147 

faithful servant of His Majesty, and of irreproach- 
able character. 

" Given under my hand and official seal at York, in 
Upper Canada, this twelfth day of December, in the 
year of grace one thousand eight hundred and twenty- 
one, and of His Majesty's reign the second. 

" By His Excellency's command, 

" G. Hillier. 

P. Maitland." 

On April 23rd, 1822 (St. George's Day), FitzGibbon 
was in command of the forces representing the militia 
of Canada, and assembled before the Government 
House to receive the colors ordered to be presented 
by His Majesty, in token of his appreciation of, and 
gratitude to, the militia for their services in the war 
of 1812-14. 

Immigration and the necessity of encouraging the 
influx of population was then, in 1821, '22 and '23, 
as important a question for Upper Canada as it is 
to-day for Manitoba and the still unsettled districts 
of our wide Dominion. 

A number of Irish families from the poorest dis- 
tricts in their own land — well-nigh " wild Irish "—the 
majority ignorant of any language but their own 
native Celtic, had been sent out under the auspices 
of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Upper Canada, and 
had been settled on land in the county of Lanark, 
where many of them were employed in the construc- 
tion of the Bideau Canal, not far from the town of 
Perth. 



148 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Unused to the ways of the country, and coming 
out, as many do still, with extravagant expectations 
of fortunes to be made, without the trouble of earning 
them, and with exaggerated ideas of the privileges 
and freedom of the New World and absence of the 
controlling arm of the law, — this with the national 
animosity of Roman Catholics and Protestants among 
them, resulted in disturbances and threatened riot. 

Alarmed at the aspect of affairs, the magistrates of 
Perth applied to Sir Peregrine Maitland for a detach- 
ment of troops to be sent thither. Before complying 
with this request the Governor sent for FitzGibbon, 
with the result that he begged to be allowed to go 
alone to the district, report upon the condition of 
affairs, and endeavor to settle the difficulty before 
calling out the military. 

Confident in his knowledge of and influence over 
his countrymen, FitzGibbon repaired to the scene. 
He made enquiries and investigated the causes of the 
disturbance, and reiterated his determination not to 
resort to arms until all other means had failed. He 
assured the magistrates that the mere appearance of 
the military would but serve as a match to kindle the 
flame, and insisted that not a shot should be fired 
until he had at least spoken to the belligerents. 

Arriving at the spot he jumped down into a cut- 
ting, where gangs of these " wild Irish " had struck 
work and were assembled, one faction headed by a 
big, broad-shouldered giant, ready for a free fight and 
broken heads. 



IRISH RIOTS. 149 

Facing them boldly, FitzGibbon poured forth a 
volley in their own language, the native Irish, and 
before the magistrates realized what he was attempt- 
ing, the mob had paused to listen, and when he 
ceased, both sides cheered him to the echo. He then 
went among them, made friends of them, explained 
away misunderstandings, which their ignorance of 
the country and of English had originated ; expos- 
tulated with them upon the folly of thinking that 
any country could be governed, or order, peace or 
safety to themselves or their property ensured, with- 
out the law being enforced and magistrates obeyed, 
and ended by standing sponsor for them with the 
authorities for their future good behavior. 

The result of his efforts was so satisfactory that 
such a report was sent to the Colonial Office as 
obtained him the personal thanks of Bishop Mac- 
Donell upon the return of the latter to Canada. This 
was the more satisfactory owing to the fact that 
before FitzGibbon's visit to the Irish settlement, the 
report of their riotous behavior had been communi- 
cated to the Colonial Office, and Lord Bathurst had 
written to Bishop MacDonell, then in Rome, on the 
subject. The settlers having been sent out by his 
advice, he was to a certain extent held responsible for 
the result. 

Fifteen years afterwards FitzGibbon had also the 
gratification of receiving from one of the magistrates, 
who had been the most anxious for the aid of the 
military, the information that, wonderful as it might 



150 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

appear, not a single instance of riotous behaviour had 
occurred in that district since his visit in 1823. 

In 1826, riots broke out in the township of Peter- 
borough, among the Irish settlements there, and Fitz- 
Gibbon was sent to keep the peace and restore order. 
Again was the service accomplished without other 
force than his personal influence and individual efforts. 

An incident occurred in 1866, in Toronto, which 
illustrates his wonderful knowledge of and power 
over his countrymen's childlike nature, and the last- 
ing impression his efforts made upon their mind and 
memory. FitzGibbon's daughter-in-law, a widow, 
then living in a little cottage on Dundas Road, almost 
opposite the gates of Rusholme, and one of the very 
few' houses at the time in that neighborhood, was 
sitting up with a sick child. Probably attracted by 
the light in the window, a tipsy Irishman forced his 
way into the house. Throwing himself into an arm- 
chair, he noisily demanded something to eat. Having 
no one in the house with her but the children, and 
unable to eject him forcibly, Mrs. FitzGibbon thought 
the best means of ridding herself of the intruder was 
to comply with his demands. The noise made in open- 
ing the door of the chiffonniere attracted the unwel- 
come visitor's attention. He turned his eyes full 
upon a large half-length portrait of Colonel Fitz- 
Gibbon in his uniform. Staggering to his feet, the 
man stared, raised his hand to his cap in military 
salute, and stammered out : 

" Lord Almighty, save us, but it is the Kurnel him- 



ADDRESS TO ORA.NGEMEN. 151 

self. An' is it in any house belonging to himself I'd 
be doin' mischief ? God bless him, but he saved me 
from a bad scrape wanst, an' was a kind frind to me 
afther." 

Waiving the proffered food aside, the man staggered 
out, reiterating alternate apologies for his intrusion 
and anathemas against himself for " doin' the loike 
furninst the Kurnel's very face, God bless him," until 
his uncertain steps and muttering accents died away 
in the distance, and the grateful old reprobate, who 
thus justified his benefactor's faith in the good in 
every human heart, went away into the night. 

In 1826, FitzGibbon was gazetted Colonel of the 
West York Militia Regiment of Canada. His com- 
mission is dated the 2nd January. In the same year 
he resigned both his position as Assistant Adjutant- 
General and the Provincial Grand Mastership of the 
Freemasons of Upper Canada. 

Among his papers I find the following address to 
the Orangemen of Perth and Cavan, showing that he 
took a lively interest in the men over whom his 
influence had been so beneficially exercised. It is 
printed, but signed in autograph, and dated York, 
June 18th, 1826 : 

" To the Orangemen of Cavan and Perth : 

" Fellow-Countrymen, — I have recently been in- 
formed that the Orange Lodges of Cavan and Perth 
intend to march in procession on the 12th of July 
next. Having for some years past observed with 
increasing anxietv the conduct of the two classes of 



152 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

our countrymen who have come to reside in this pro- 
vince, I cannot withhold from you an earnest expres- 
sion of the feelings which have been raised in my 
mind by this information. 

" When the Irish emigrants began to arrive in Can- 
ada, the old inhabitants often expressed their fears 
that the evils so unhappily rooted in Ireland would 
be transplanted into these hitherto peaceful provinces, 
and I could not help participating in their fears. I 
was also afraid that even if party strife were not 
revived, individual Irishmen would be found more 
prone to irregular habits than the other immigrants, 
and such was also the general opinion in this pro- 
vince. I cannot express how great my satisfaction 
has been to see that my countrymen, individually, 
are as orderly and well behaved as I could, under all 
the circumstances, have expected of them, nor have 
I any fear for the future, except of the evil which 
may possibly grow out of the proceedings of the 
Orange lodges. 

' The organization of the Protestants into societies 
for self-defence was in former times, it appears, 
deemed necessary for their mutual safety ; but those 
times are happily fast passing away, and the wise 
and good of all parties and of all countries, now 
recommend to our countrymen to practise forbear- 
ance and to cultivate peace and good-will towards 
each other. 

' Without the practice of this forbearance, and the 
cultivation of this peace and good-will, shall we ven- 
ture to call ourselves Christians ? No, my friends, 
let us not deceive ourselves, but rather let us humble 
ourselves before God and pray — fervently pray — for 
His good grace to guide us in these times of increas- 
ing knowledge, and of peace and security. Who will 



TRUE CHRISTIANITY. 153 

now pretend that your religion, your persons, or your 
property are in danger ? Not one ; no, not one, can 
say so with even a shadow of truth. I cannot now, 
in this province, see one justifiable reason for your 
continuing to go abroad in processions, which have 
ever been considered by your Catholic fellow-subjects 
as offensive and insulting to them in the highest 
degree, and which have been regarded by many good 
and enlightened men as actually unlawful. 

" The law, it is true, might suppress these proces- 
sions ; but how much more honorable to yourselves, 
and pleasing to your friends, would it be for you to 
follow the example of the lodges in Ireland, who, 
from a love of peace and a desire to conciliate their 
neighbors, have generously resolved to give no more 
offence to them? 

"I can assure you that the great body of the 
Catholics wish you to take this step towards a good 
understanding with them, rather than to have the 
law enforced against you, and which, sooner or 
later, must be enforced, if it should continue to be 
called for. 

"I have copied from a London paper ol 30th of 
March last, several extracts from the speeches of 
some of your best friends and others in the House 
of Commons, that you may be made acquainted with 
their sentiments relative to your processions; and I 
hope and trust that the reading of these extracts will 
have upon your minds a similar effect to what they had 
on mine, namely, to satisfy you that these processions 
are no longer necessary; that they are insulting to 
the Roman Catholics, offensive to all your other 
fellow-subjects, and contrary to the laws of your 
country and to the laws of your religion, the second 
(commandment) of which is, that you love your neigh- 

10 



154 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

bor as yourself. And that you may well understand 
who your neighbor is, I request you to read the 
words of our Saviour himself, as written in the tenth 
chapter of St. Luke, beginning with the twenty- 
fifth verse and ending with the thirty-seventh, and 
having done this, kneel and pray to Him to incline 
all your hearts ' to go and do likewise.' This also 
is my fervent prayer for you, and not for you only, 
but for every misguided fellow-being who thinks that 
he can love God without at the same time loving his 
neighbor (brother). 

" I might urge many excellent reasons to influence 
your minds upon this question, but I prefer being as 
brief as I can, and trust to your own good sense, 
which with reflection will, I have no doubt, supply 
much that I have omitted. 

' I must confess that I am extremely desirous that 
our differences should be amicably settled by our- 
selves. Let not our proverbial kind-heartedness be 
wanting towards each other, else it may become a 
mockery and reproach to us. 

: With this feeling I shall confine my communica- 
tion to Irishmen, and I wish that no one else be 
spoken to on the subject. And here I cannot help 
entreating you to turn your eyes towards Lower 
Canada, where Protestants, though greatly inferior 
in numbers, are not oppressed by the Catholics, and 
where, without any societies, all enjoy peace and live 
in harmony. If, therefore, the Catholics and Pro- 
testants cannot go on in the same manner here, it 
must be supposed, and I fear it will be said, that it is 
because they are Irishmen — which Irishmen should 
certainly be the last to admit— and they ought, 
therefore, no longer to pursue a course of conduct 
which must subject themselves to this reproach. 



EXTRACTS FROM THE " TIMES." 155 

" This communication must be printed, because I 
cannot possibly spare time to make the number of 
copies I want, but I will take care that not a copy 
shall be sent but to an Irishman ; and I particularly 
request that it may be circulated among those only 
for whom it is intended. 

" Let your decision be what it may, I shall ever 
desire to be the true friend of every fellow-country- 
man, or, in other words, the friend of all such as I 
feel you must wish to be — worthy Irishmen. 

" James FitzGibbon." 



[extracts.] 
" Orange Processions. 

" Mr. Brownlow, in rising to bring forward the 
motion of which he had given notice, said he was 
happy to bring this subject under the consideration 
of the House. He was anxious that the attention of 
this House should be drawn to the unhappy state of 
that country in this age of improvement of commerce, 
laws, government and trade. 

"In the year 1825, the magistrates in the neighbor- 
hood of Lisburn were called on, at the instance of the 
Irish Government, to meet at Lisburn, to take into 
consideration the steps necessary to be taken in order 
to prevent the Orange processions on the 12th of 
July. This was done in consequence of the opinion 
of the law officers of the Crown as to the illegality of 
processions. . . . The Orangemen then proceeded to 
Lisburn, where a serious riot took place. . . . He did 
not make the present complaint as against Orange- 
men alone. He never would be ashamed to own that 






156 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

he had been once an Orangeman. The King had not 
a finer race of subjects, more independent, high- 
minded, determined, public-spirited, men more deter- 
mined, in all difficulties and dangers, to do their duty, 
according to their sense of it, than these Orangemen 
of the north of Ireland. His motion was against 
that system which pitted one set of men against 
another, and stained the green fields of Ireland with 
blood. Hence, want of employment, burnings, mas- 
sacres, and that state of irritation which rendered 
Ireland one immense madhouse of demoniac spirits, 
one mass ranging themselves under any man of dis- 
tinction who was disposed to lead them on, and the 
other willing soldiers of anyone who had the hardi- 
hood to be their captain. 

" The honorable member concluded by moving for 
copies of the correspondence which took place between 
the Lord Lieutenant and four magistrates of the 
county of Antrim ; also copies of the correspondence 
with the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and copies of 
the opinions of the law officers of the Crown. 

: Mr. Plunket, the Attorney-General for Ireland, 
said that the members of the Government of Ireland 
were all equally disposed to suppress illegal associa- 
tions of all kinds, both those of Orangemen as well 
as those connected with the Roman Catholic body. 
Between all the members of the Government, as well 
as between himself and his learned friend, the Solici- 
tor-General of Ireland, with whom he differed on the 
question of Catholic disability as much as it was 
possible for him to differ with anyone, there existed 
a sincere determination to destroy all associations of 
an illegal character. Now, with respect to this parti- 
cular case, he could only say that both he and his 
learned colleague had given a decided opinion that 



LOUD CASTLEUEAGH's OPINION. 157 

these processions were illegal. It had already been 
determined that the Orange societies were illegal, and 
it was of necessity a consequence that the processions 
of such societies were contrary to law. ... It was 
his strong conviction that Orangeism was dying away 
in Ireland. Gentlemen were at length beginning to 
see the policy of discountenancing these lamentable 
divisions, and though occasions might occur again for 
popular excitement, yet, generally speaking, it was 
his opinion that before long it would subside, if it 
were not kept alive by vindictive recollections. These 
were disputes the memories of which ought to be 
buried. 

" Sir John Newport said he had lived to witness 
many things connected with his unfortunate country, 
which wrung him to the heart. His right honorable 
friend had said that Orangeism .was on the decay in 
Ireland. He doubted it. In 1811, when the subject 
of Orange societies was first brought under the notice 
of this House, the necessity of suppressing them was 
strongly urged by Lord Castlereagh, the President of 
the Board of Control, and almost every member of 
the Government, but it was answered that parliament- 
ary interference was unnecessary, as party spirit was 
then declining in Ireland. Gentlemen might expect 
to see the same results in ten years more time, if 
something were not done. He earnestly prayed the 
House, as they regarded the well-doing and tranquil- 
ity of Ireland, not to be insensible to the mischiefs 
of these processions. It was their nature to irritate 
and divide. Who could say that if the memory of 
the defeat at Culloden had been kept alive offensively 
by processions, Scotland would enjoy the tranquility 
with which she is now blest ? The thing was im- 
possible. Irritation must follow insult, and those? 



] - s A VETERAN OF 1812. 

whose duty it was to extinguish provocation were 
i-f sponsible for the consequences. 

" Mr. Secretary Peel, after making several observa- 
tions, said that for himself, being known to entertain 
strong opinions upon the Catholic question, he could 
only say that he had never heard a sentiment of dis- 
approbation expressed, even by the warmest advocates 
of the question, with respect to the impropriety of 
Orange associations in which he did not most heartily 
concur. It was his warmest wish that they were at 
an end ; and so far as that description of associations 
was concerned, he believed they were gradually dis- 
solving. With respect to Orange processions, he 
agreed with the Right Honorable Baronet that it 
would conduce much to the tranquility of Ireland if 
they were given up, and he (Mr. Peel) would hold 
those men higher who exerted themselves to discoun- 
tenance these processions than those others, it any 
there were, who gave them encouragement by their 
example. If the imposition of law be necessary to 
repress them, by all means let it be applied ; but if 
he (Mr. Peel) were a private gentleman residing in 
Ireland, he would try what he could do by influence 
and example to discourage them, and in these senti- 
ments the House might count upon his sincerity. 

" At a former period he expressed the opinion still 
entertained by him, that these societies would yield 
to the wishes of Parliament, and that loyalty could 
compensate for the mischiefs resulting from the con- 
tinuance of such societies and proceedings." 

FitzGibbon's friendship for others, his interest in 
the well-being and well-doing of the younger men 
with whom he was thrown, and his prompt action in 
interfering in whatever occurred within his cogniz- 



THE PRESS RIOT. 159 

ance whenever there appeared the remotest chance of 
such interference being for good, whether it was any 
business of his or not, according to the conventional 
reading of that expression, often led him to interpose 
where another, possibly more worldly-wise, might 
have passed by on the other side. 

The world has long forgotten, if indeed the present 
generation has ever heard, the story of the sad quarrel 
between two young members of two of Toronto's 
oldest families. Chance threw FitzGibbon in the 
way at a moment when his interposition and forcible 
separation of two hot-headed youths, and the placing 
of one of them under his brother's charge, seemed 
the right thing to do. Unfortunately the sequel 
proved that others were less wise. When, however, 
some years later, garbled accounts of the affair ap- 
peared in one of the public prints, FitzGibbon, being 
appealed to, was able to bear testimony to the truth 
and exonerate one of the unfortunate actors from 
unmerited blame. That FitzGibbon was appealed to 
is evidence of the estimation in which he was held 
as one whose word, judgment and right feeling could 
be relied upon, and his integrity of purpose have 
weight with the public. 

On June 8th, 1826, a raid was made upon the 
printing house of the Advocate, a paper published 
by William Lyon Mackenzie. The door was broken 
open, the press partially destroyed, and a quantity 
of the type thrown into the Bay ; cases were " pied " 
and scattered over the floor, the furniture and other 



160 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

contents of the room left in a state of disorder and 
confusion. Mackenzie was absent at the time, having 
withdrawn to the other side of the line pending 
an arrangement with his creditors. The raid was 
perpetrated by a number of the young men, who, 
objecting to the utterances of the Advocate as disloyal 
and abusive, took the punishment of its editor and 
the destruction of the offending print into their own 
hands. Many of the ringleaders in this press riot 
were arrested ; some of them, through FitzGibbon's 
active energy and assistance, were tried and heavily 
fined. 

Although Fitz Gibbon agreed with the justice of 
the sentence and punishment for breaking the King's 
peace, he had no sympathy with the Radicals whose 
disloyal utterances had roused the hot-headed youths 
in the city into taking the law into their own hands. 
He might collar them and run them into prison to 
keep them out of mischief, but when the law pun- 
ished them by the exaction of a fine, he was one of 
the first to assist in raising it. Impecunious himself, 
and unable to give it out of his own pocket, he had 
no hesitation in using his influence to get it out of 
those of others. It was but another of the character- 
istics of his nature. He could condemn the act, and 
actually sit in judgment upon it, but through his 
knowledge of human nature and youth, as well as 
his enthusiastic loyalty to the Crown, could condone 
the offence, owing to its cause of the provocation. 

Mr. Dent, in his "History of the Rebellion in 1837, 



A SUBSCRIPTION LIST. 161 

is incorrect in saying that " FitzGibbon sympathized 
strongly with the boys, and regretted the result of 
the trial, and regarded them as martyrs." 

He did nothing of the kind. The boys were justly 
punished, as all breakers of the peace and destroyers 
of other people's property should be, but the disloyal 
utterances of the Radicals provoked it, and it was but 
an instance, a practical illustration, of young blood 
being carried away by enthusiastic loyalty, which in 
later and calmer pulses made men staunch upholders 
of the British throne. 

FitzGibbon volunteered to canvass the town for 
subscriptions towards discharging the fine. He suc- 
ceeded in collecting the amount, but the names of the 
contributors never transpired. The list was burnt 
the moment it had served its purpose. The Radicals, 
hearing something of it, endeavored to make capital 
of it, and rumors were set afloat hinting at the heads 
of several departments of the Government as contri- 
butors, and sneering at the justice in which the judges 
levied a fine and then contributed to pay it. Collins 
went so far as to assert that Sir Peregrine Maitland's 
name headed the list opposite a large contribution. 

FitzGibbon had been wise if he had taken no notice 
of this, but he was an Irishman an 1 could not resist 
the temptation. In a letter published in the Freeman 
over his own signature, he distinctly declared Collins' 
assertion to be wholly untrue so far as the Lieut. - 
Governor was concerned. When Collins was arraigned 
for libel before Judge Willis, in his address to the 



L62 A VETERAN OF 1812 

bench he accused FitzGibbon of " begging the amount 

from door to door." 

On May 4th, 1827, FitzGibbon succeeded Grant 
Powell as Clerk of the House of Assembly, being 
appointed to that office by Sir Peregrine Maitland, 
and on September 8th, 1828, Kegistrar of the Court 
of Probate of Upper Canada. 

The salaries from these offices were small. The 
accumulation of debt and the requirements of his 
family made it almost an impossibility to confine his 
expenditure within the limit of such narrow means. 
The sale of his commission in the army in 1826 had 
relieved him temporarily from his embarrassments ; 
but FitzGibbon was one who, holding a public position, 
lived, to a certain extent, according to it, and not 
according to the disproportionate salary belonging to 
it. His correspondence was extensive. His popularity 
and well-known willingness to help his neighbor 
without fee or reward, brought many outside duties 
and responsibilities. His friendship for Sir Isaac 
Brock's family, and the undying gratitude he felt for 
his memory, for kindness which no after services of his 
to any one of his beloved colonel's family could ever 
repay, brought him the trouble and expense of trustee- 
ship, executorship, etc., the postage alone such offices 
entailed being a considerable item of expenditure. 
Among his papers are many letters acknowledging 
these efforts, and his generous assistance in managing 
their business matters. 

In 1831, we find FitzGibbon's commission as Colonel 



WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE. 163 

of the 2nd West York Regiment of Militia, ante- 
dated January 2nd, 1826, and redated March 19th 
1831. 

Party spirit in the Canadas, and particularly in 
the Upper Province, ran very high at this period. 
William Lyon Mackenzie, the talented leader of the 
party whose radical opposition to the Family Com- 
pact and its supporters terminated later in open 
rebellion, was the publisher and proprietor of the 
most outspoken radical organ. He was a member 
of the House, and had spoken forcibly against acts 
which he considered abuse of the executive power 
placed in the hands of the Government by the people. 

Since the days of " I, Peter Russell, grant to you, 
Peter Russell " notoriety, members of the House had 
obtained grants of Crown lands, over which the 
Executive and not the Legislature held control, to the 
extent of from five hundred to two thousand acres 
each, on simply paying the fees exacted by the 
officials.* This was one of the grievances against 
which Mackenzie spoke. The grants were perfectly 
legal, but it was against them as a system which 
permitted of abuse that he strove. Although Mac- 



* Grants of land were in the early days of the Province entirely 
subject to the discretion of the Governor-in-Council. Official dig- 
nitaries granted lands to their servants and other dependants, 
which, as soon as certain requisite forms were complied with, were 
transferred to themselves. When the Hon. Peter Russell held the 
office of Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, he is said to have 
used his power to acquire lands in the manner quoted above. 



104 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

knizie was expelled the House on a question of 
privilege, an Act was eventually passed to prevent 
the alienation of Crown lands as rewards for public 
services. How this Act affected FitzGibbon's fortune 
will be seen later. 

A brief epitome of Mackenzie's case may not be 
amiss here, as it will explain FitzGibbon's share in the 
events of that date. 

While a member, he had at his own cost distributed 
copies of the journals of the House, without note or 
comment, unaccompanied by the appendix. For this, 
as a breach of privilege, he was expelled. 

The second time, a libel published in a newspaper, 
and of which he acknowledged the authorship, was 
made the ground of expulsion. 

A third time, the House declared the previous 
decisions rendered him incapable of taking his seat. 

The fourth time, though unanimously elected, be- 
cause unopposed, his election was declared void. 

The fifth time he was not allowed to take the oath 
or his seat, being forcibly ejected from the space below 
the bar on a motion to clear the House of strangers, 
and finally, after taking the oath, he was again 
dragged from his seat by the Sergeant-at-Arms and 
condemned to silence under threat of imprisonment. 

Mackenzie and FitzGibbon had several passages at 
arms over various matters connected with the printing 
for the Government, which was done by the former's 
] .rinting-house. Some of those were based upon very 
small provocation, if we may judge by letters extant, 



A STORMY MEETING. 165 

on such apparently trivial items as the omission of 
certain blanks in the printed copies of the journals 
of the House on the score of an infinitesimal economy. 

Mackenzie also complained in one of his petitions 
for redress to the Governor-in-Council, that Fitz- 
Gibbon had refused to administer the oath to him 
upon taking his seat, to which FitzGibbon replied 
by the assertion that he had not done so upon his 
own authority, nor could he administer the oath to 
any one on taking a seat that had been declared 
vacant by the Assembly. 

After Mackenzie's second expulsion from the House, 
the vote being carried by twenty-seven to nineteen, 
he appealed to the people to resent the outrage as 
against their constitutional privileges. A sense of 
the wrong he conceived he had suffered at the hands 
of the Government goading him into the use of 
stronger language than he might otherwise have 
employed, and his eloquence being of a kind which 
attracted a turbulent class of followers, public feeling 
on both sides was roused to a height that threatened 
riot. 

A stormy meeting was held in Hamilton on the 
evening of the 19th March, 1832, at which both sides 
claimed the victory. An attempt to assault Mackenzie 
was made the most of by rumor and excited sym- 
pathizers, and a meeting called for the 23rd, in York, 
promised to be a stormy one. The meeting assembled 
at the court house. Dr. Dunlop and Mr. Ketchum were 
respectively proposed as chairman, and both declared 



IQQ A VETERAN OF 1812. 

elected. Dunlop took the chair and the Reformers 
withdrew and organized an open-air meeting in front 
of the court house, making use of a farmer's waggon 
as a platform. When Mackenzie attempted to address 
this meeting, his opponents were not slow in express- 
ing their antagonism, accentuating it by the material 
argument of stones and other missiles. The riot 
soon assumed an alarming aspect, and the sheriff, 
declaring himself unable to preserve the peace, begged 
Mr. Ketchum to bring the meeting to a close. Through 
the diplomatic suggestion that " The friends of the 
Governor might adjourn to Government House and 
cheer His Excellency," the attention of many was 
distracted. 

During their absence Mackenzie addressed the meet- 
ing, and an address to the King being drawn up, 
setting forth their grievances, many signed it. Many 
who had not signed it before went with Mackenzie 
to the corner of Church and Richmond Streets, 
where, on tables in the street, four hundred and 
thirty-eight names were added. 

So far I have quoted almost entirely from Mr. 
Charles Lindsey's " Life of William Lyon Mackenzie." 
The remainder I may now take from FitzGibbon's 
papers. 

Rumors of the uproar reaching FitzGibbon, and 
hearing that the mob were not only threatening to 
burn Mackenzie in efiigy, but intended to attack and 
destroy the office of the offending paper, he hastened 
to the scene. He found the streets full, the crowd 



STREET RIOTS. 167 

denser and more excited as he approached the print- 
ing-house. A shot from one of the windows, answered 
by a volley of stones, was the signal for a general 
rush upon the building. FitzGibbon forced his way 
rapidly through the crowd, his height and strength, 
as well as his being recognized by all as one having 
authority, assisting his progress. Seizing two of the 
most excited instigators of the riot by the collar, he 
dragged them to the gaol close by, and returning took 
his stand on the steps of the house. Raising his voice 
that he might be heard above the noise, he called 
upon all the loyal and true men to aid him in making 
a stand against the rioters. 

Mackenzie demanded that the military be called 
out. FitzGibbon flatly refused, assuring him that 
there were enough good men in the crowd to aid 
him to restore order without the intervention of the 
military, adding, however, an emphatic request that 
he (Mackenzie) would retire, as his presence was the 
chief cause of the disturbance. 

" I will not retire, sir," replied Mackenzie, " I have 
as good a right to be here as you have." 

" Very well," cried FitzGibbon, " if you do not I 
will put you in gaol, too." 

" You dare not, I am a member of Parliament," 
shouted Mackenzie. 

He little knew the man he had to deal with. 
Instead of replying, FitzGibbon proceeded to put his 
threat into execution and was actually dragging the 



1G8 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

future rebel to the gaol when two of his friends, also 
members of Parliament, appeared. 

Appealing to them, FitzGibbon begged they would 
take care of Mackenzie, as he had no wish to imprison 
him ; if they could persuade him to retire, he (Fitz- 
Gibbon) would protect them while doing so. Then 
turning to the crowd he called out, " Mr. Mackenzie 
calls upon me to order out the troops, but I will not 
insult you by complying with his demand. I will 
rather call upon you, and you, and you " (indicating 
individuals in the crowd), " and will find good men 
enough to ensure the keeping of the King's peace." 

This appeal was answered by a shout of appro- 
bation. Mackenzie and his friends were then allowed 
to retire without further molestation. Upon reach- 
ing his house, Mackenzie, deceived probably by his 
immunity from attack while under FitzGibbon's 
protection, turned and wished to again address the 
mob. This was no part of the soldier's plan. Taking 
Mackenzie by the shoulders he put him forcibly but 
quietly inside and shut the door on him. 

The two other members, Messrs. Macintosh and 
Ketchum, again begged that troops should be called 
out, if only to be stationed in the court house during 
the night, but FitzGibbon was firm. The danger was 
over for the present, and he would himself incur the 
responsibility and remain at the court house with a 
sufficient number of special constables to see that all 
remained quiet. Apparently satisfied they left him. 

A short time after, Colonel Foster, Assistant 



QUIET RESTORED. 1G9 

Adjutant-General of the Forces in Upper Canada, 
galloped up and, alighting, desired FitzGibbon to 
mount and go at once to Government House, where 
the Lieut.-Governor wished to see him. FitzGibbon 
obeyed and found Sir John Co] borne anxiously 
awaiting him. The two members, Messrs. Macintosh 
and Ketchum, had just applied to him to order out 
the troops to keep the peace during the night, but 
before complying with the request the Governor 
had sent for FitzGibbon to learn if the troops were 
necessary. 

" I pray of your Excellency," replied FitzGibbon, 
" to do nothing of the kind." 

" Had I not better augment the guard on the Bay 
side, and have men at hand there \ " 

" Pray do not, sir." 

" Well, then," said Sir John, " I will order a picket 
to be in readiness in the garrison, to turn out at a 
moment's notice if required." 

" For God's sake, sir, do nothing of the kind. Give 
no order whatever. I am convinced that it is a great 
object with Mr. Mackenzie and his party to have the 
troops called out. They have been outnumbered and 
beaten to-day, and they now desire to have the troops 
called out, in order that they may be able to proclaim 
to the Province to-morrow, that "but for the inter- 
ference of the troops they would have triumphed." 
No troops were called out, and quiet was maintained 
without them. 

From the reminiscences of an old Upper Canada 
11 



170 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

College boy I have gathered something of the impres- 
sion FitzGibbon made upon those about him at the 

time : 

"I first went to college in 1831, my brother Lewis 
and I being the first sent from this district," writes 
William Wallbridge, of Belleville. "I remember Col. 
FitzGibbon well. He was a remarkable -looking 
man. I remember him in the House, for, not caring 
much to join my companions in their games, I used 
to find my way there. 

" The Legislative Assembly then held its sittings in 
the old building opposite the market-place on King 
Street. I was particularly struck with the Clerk, a 
tall man, straight, upright, and decidedly military in 
his carriage, his clear incisive voice and prompt per- 
formance of his duties. I frequently met him on the 
way to the House, at the corner where St. Andrew's 
Church now stands, his height and soldierly appear- 
ance, as well as an eccentric habit he had of carrying 
his tall hat on the end of his cane, slightly above his 
head, instead of wearing it, that the air might circu- 
late freely about his head, attracting my attention. 
His hair was always cut as closely as possible, a 
fashion more noticeable then than it would be now. 
' In 1832, when the cholera was raging in Toronto 
— (it was bad in '34, but nothing to what it was in 
'32) — FitzGibbon was the prominent man. It was he 
who arranged and organized every plan for the care 
and comfort of the sick, and the decent burial of the 
dead. He was here, there and everywhere. He was 



TORONTO IN 1832. 171 

afraid of nothing, whether in the removal of the sick 
to the hospital or in conveying the dead to the grave. 
I remember seeing him once with two carts close to 
the college, one for the dead, the other for the dying. 
He was standing near, and with his own hands assist- 
ing in their removal. He seemed to have a charmed 
life, to need no rest, and to be as exempt from conta- 
gion as he had been from the enemy's fire on the 
field of battle. He was not acting under any autho- 
rity from the Government or city, but solely and 
entirely on his own responsibility, and through pity 
for the sufferers."* 

[The General Hospital was west of the Upper Can- 
ada College on Russell Square; and it was opposite 
this building, standing, as it does, slantwise to the 
street, that Mr. Wallbridge remembered seeing Fitz- 
Gibbon attending to the removal of the plague- 
stricken people in 1832.] 

" Toronto was a different place then to what it is 
now. There was not a foot of pavement in the whole 
city, except it might be a plank or two set down 
between a few doorways. During the spring and 
autumn, the streets resembled freshly ploughed fields, 
the mud particularly adhesive and heavy. 

"I saw FitzGibbon frequently during the years 
1832, '33 and '34, and heard all about the political 



* Dickson, in his "History of Upper Canada College," speaks of 
FitzGibbon as "risking his life to labor night and day during the 
cholera seasons of 1832 and 1834." 



272 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

struggles of those days. I was in Toronto when 
Mackenzie's meeting was held in the market-place in 
1834. A fine new market-house had been built at 
that time, with projecting hoods or roofs over the 
butchers' stalls. Underneath these hoods great hooks 
were fastened, on which the butchers hung their 
quarters of beef. The meeting was such an exciting 
one that every available place from which to hear 
the speakers was crowded, and many of the lads 
climbed upon these hoods. The one Geo. FitzGibbon 
was on gave way, and in falling he was impaled on 
one of the hooks beneath. He lived only a few hours 
after he was extricated." 

" On the coldest day in winter," writes another old 
college boy, Mr. D. B. Read * " Colonel FitzGibbon 
walked into town carrying his hat in his hand. He 
had, no doubt, an overheated brain, but it burned in 
the right direction. He had uncompromising integrity 
and undoubted courage." 

FitzGibbon's simple faith that while he was doing 
his duty, comprised in the broad creed of " doing good 
to his neighbor," he was in God's hands an instru- 
ment for His work, carried him safely through scenes 
and sights their nervous fears unfitted others to cope 
with. Firmness combined with the personal influence 
courage gives over weaker minds, as well as the 
almost superstitious belief of the poor in his im- 
munity from death, ensured obedience to his direc- 

•Tiie author of the " Life A Simcoe," "The Four Judges," etc. 



ORANGE PROCESSIONS. 173 

tions and reliance upon their efficacy. Excitable and 
impulsive when irritated by causeless opposition, he 
was prompt, cool and clear-headed enough in the 
moment of action to impress with confidence the men 
he led or the sick he succored. Many a terrified 
soul went home to its rest in the hope of mercy and 
forgiveness breathed into the ears of the dying body 
by the faithful soldier. 

FitzGibbon's printed address to the Orangemen in 
1826 had helped to induce them to desist from their 
processions in the public streets. For eight years 
none of the lodges in Toronto had held any such 
demonstration. In 1834, however, some recent arrivals 
from Ireland persuaded them to turn out again. Fitz- 
Gibbon anticipated the result, and took precautions 
to lessen the evil, although he could not prevent it 
altogether. 

Early on the morning of the 12th, he called upon 
Sir John Colborne, Lieut. -Governor of Upper Canada, 
and communicated his fears to him, and the means he 
had employed to endeavor to prevent their being 
realized, reiterating his desire that every effort might 
be made for peace without the intervention of the 
military. 

FitzGibbon speaks of the riot which occurred as 
much more serious than that of 1832, and one that 
required much greater effort on his part to succeed 
in quelling, although he was ably assisted by several 
of the magistrates. His greatest satisfaction appears 



174 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

to have been in the fact that the riot was ended and 
quiet restored without having to call out the troops. 

It was during these years that Mrs. Jamieson, the 
authoress, was in Canada, and became one of Fitz- 
Gibbon's most intimate friends. Mr. Jamieson suc- 
ceeded J. H. Boulton as Attorney-General, and though 
unfitted for the post at such a critical period in 
the affairs of the colony, was not very fairly treated 
by the Government which placed him in that position. 
Mrs. Jamieson's reminiscences of Canada in her 
" Winter Studies," contain several anecdotes of Fitz- 
Gibbon and her interest in " the simple-minded, gener- 
ous, brave, capable, as well as remarkable man." 

FitzGibbon's only daughter and eldest child was 
often with the authoress, who was wont to say of 
her that " she was one of the most truly ladylike and 
aristocratic women she had met in Canada." 

FitzGibbon had seventeen children born to him, but 
only his daughter and four elder sons lived to grow 
up. Of their childhood and the companionship of 
their father, many pages might be written. 

Knowing: the value and advantages of education, 
he not only availed himself of every opportunity of 
obtaining it for them from outside sources, but 
endeavored, by entering into their studies, to make 
them practical and entertaining. In his life-book the 
definition of a gentleman was, " one who would not 
hurt another's feelings by word or deed, but was ever 
ready to lend a courteous hand to help in time of 
need." His manner was as courteous and kind to the 



A RACE TO COLLEGE. 175 

humblest as to the highest among his acquaintances. 
A story told of him, or rather a remark made by one 
of his greatest admirers, a canny Scot, to whom he 
owed money, goes to show how this pleasant manner 
often stood his friend : 

" Ay, ay, the Colonel is a fine mon ; he'll aye shakit 
ye verra kindly by the han', but na word aboot the 
pay." 

FitzGibbon lived at this date (1831 to 1840) in a 
two-storied rough-cast house at the south-west cor- 
ner of what is now Queen Street and Spadina Avenue. 
The house stood a hundred feet, more or less, back 
from the road. Four large willows* grew by the 
edge of the roadway before it. The usual route fol- 
lowed by the colonel to his office, and the boys to 
college, was along the shore of the bay. 

Upon the morning the new buildings of the college 
were opened, the boys were in great haste to set out. 
Their father walked with them. Some of their school- 
mates, many of whose names are first on the list of 
" old boys ' : of Upper Canada College, lived in the 
opposite direction, east of the college, their route 
also being along the shore on the space between Front 
Street and the lake, known afterwards as the Esplan- 
ade. Each party catching sight of the other at the 
same moment, when about equidistant from the col- 
lege, the same idea seemed to occur to both. 

"Run, boys," cried the colonel, "and we'll beat 



These willows have been taken down since 1S70. 



176 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

them." A race ensued, the dignified Clerk of the 
House racing along with the boys as keenly interested 
in the result as they were, and no whit behind them 

in speed. 

" And we won, too. We got in first, though by 
little more than a neck," says one of the boys ; " and 
my father was prouder of that half-dozen steps than 
if we had beaten by a dozen yards." 

In 1832 or 1833, a woman had a small house or 
shanty built in the rear of the college in McDonnell's 
field. The house was not more than fifteen feet square. 
In this she kept a tiny shop or stall for the sale of 
apples, sugar-sticks and other such school-boy de- 
lights, finding her principal customers in the college. 
Every one of the boys knew the old dame. She was 
often teased and chaffed by the "young gentlemen," 
all of which she took in good part, resenting only 
what the designated as " fine airs." 

One day, one of the FitzGibbons apparently 
offended her in this way. She retaliated by the 
taunt that " their father was not a gentleman, he 
having risen from the ranks and was only a common 
soldier." 

Furious with indignation, the boy ran to his father 
to deny it. Amused, yet knowing the old woman 
must have had some provocation, FitzGibbon ques- 
tioned the boy, and learned that he had really been 
rude and overbearing. On reaching the college the 
next morning he took the boy to the old woman's stall. 

" Good morning, Mrs. , I have brought my 



Toronto's first mayor. 177 

lad with me to apologize for his rudeness to you 
yesterday, that you may believe his father is a gentle- 
man, though he did rise from the ranks, and cannot 
allow his son to prove himself anj^thing else." 

On the 6th of March, 1834, the town of York had 
its limits extended and was erected into a corporate 
city, and its original name Toronto restored to it. 

There has been much controversy at various times 
over the origin and meaning of this name, Toronto. I 
think it is not difficult to find. T- wan-to, pronouncing 
the letters as if French, is the O jibe way word for 
" shelter from wind," virtually " a harbor." The pres- 
ent pronunciation of the word and its consequent 
spelling is due to the preponderance of the Irish 
among the residents and legislators, when the name 
was first pronounced and written by the aborigines' 
successors.* 

On the 15th, a proclamation was issued calling a 
poll for the election of aldermen and common council- 
men on the 27th. In this election the Reformers had 
the majority, and chose Wm, Lyon Mackenzie as their 
mayor. 

Owing to the necessity of funds for municipal 
expenses, it was requisite to obtain a loan. To meet 
this demand of the city treasury, a rate of 3d. in the 
pound was levied. This was deemed an exorbitant 



* The name "Toronto" is to be found on old maps of Upper 
Canada at various points on the lakes, where the Indians sheltered 
their canoes. (See Bouchette's History of Canada.) 



178 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

tax, and roused such popular indignation that a meet- 
in"- was called to enable the corporation to explain 
the necessity, and give an account of the city debt 
and required expenditure. 

The meeting was a stormy one, and was finally 
a Ijourned until the following day, July 30th, to be 
held in the market-place. This was the meeting 
referred to by Mr. Wallbridge. 

Mr. Lindsey, in his " Life of Wm. Lyon Mackenzie," 
tells us this " building was a parallelogram, and over 
the butchers' stalls a balcony to accommodate specta- 
tors was hastily run up. 

■ When the sheriff (Jar vis) was addressing the 
meeting in support of his vote of censure on the 
conduct of the mayor, he said : 

" ' I care no more for Mackenzie ' — then looking 
about him at a loss for a comparison, he, school-boy 
like, looked upwards, and seeing a crow flying over- 
head, added — ' than that crow.' " 

' This elicited a cheer and a stamping from the 
crowd on the balcony, many of them mere lads, who 
naturally turned about to see what sort of crow it 
was that had come so opportunely to the sheriff's 
assistance. The hastily built erection strained and 
collapsed, precipitating the crowd upon it to the 
ground, breaking limbs and bruising many, and 
impaling others upon the great hooks of the butchers' 
stalls beneath." 

The last was the unfortunate fate (before alluded 
to) of FitzGibbon's third son, George, a fine promising 






PATERNAL COUNSELS. 170 

lad of sixteen, whose ready wit and brilliant sallies 
were the life of his school-mates, and whose abilities 
promised future success at the Bar, the profession to 
which he had been early destined by his father. 

Fitz Gibbon's grief and horror were great. The boy 
lived only a few hours, but in such agony that the 
bereaved father was grateful to see the bright eyes 
close in death and the agonized limbs at rest. 

In 1835, FitzGibbon's eldest son, Charles, left home 
for the first time. He had studied for the Bar and 
passed his examination, but a visit to Dublin, where 
FitzGibbon's father and brothers were then residing, 
and an offer of a post in an uncle's business there, 
seemed to promise more speedy returns than the 
practice of the law in Canada. 

The following letter was written upon receipt of 
the tidings of his son's change of plans : 

"My Dear Charles,— I have but a short time to 
commit to paper a few items of advice for your future 
guidance. Attention to some of these has helped me 
much to conquer the many difficulties which ever 
beset the path of him who has to ascend by his own 
unaided exertions. 

" Spare no pains to acquire a thorough knowledge 
of the business in your uncle's establishment, and con- 
duct his affairs as much as you possibly can exactly 
as you think he wishes to have them conducted. 
Remember that in proportion as you succeed, you will 
lighten the burden of his cares and anxieties, and 
increase his kindness and affection towards you. 

" Comport yourself towards your aunt with affec- 



ISO A VETERAN OF 1812. 

tionate deference, even to the minutest attentions, 
and to the children be affectionate and kind ; and be 
the same to the Martins" [other cousins]. "Confine 
yourself to the circle of acquaintances to which your 
uncle will introduce you, and studiously decline every 
other. For, be assured that it is incompatible with 
due attention to your business to cultivate society at 
all while in the early part of your progress. 

"Against smoking and against drinking I need 
not, and against any other vice, I almost flatter my- 
self, I need not warn you. But the passions require 
to be guarded against with great diligence. I there- 
fore recommend you to fight the battle against them, 
one and all, at first and in the outset. To keep the 
high and happy ground of innocence is much more 
easy than to return to it, if once you take a down- 
ward step. I wish I could convey to your mind a 
part of the impression made on mine by the many 
melancholy examples I have seen in the army, of 
young men who could not abstain from what they 
called pleasure, but which soon brought them to dis- 
appointment, misery and a wretched end. Every 
temptation you successfully resist will strengthen 
your moral courage, and you will soon find yourself 
to be of too much value to your parents, to your 
relatives and to yourself, to become an unworthy 
and degraded being. Be assured that the Almighty 
will guide you from usefulness to eminence and hap- 
piness, if you carefully and devoutly turn to Him for 
help and support. 

" Attend punctually to the duties of your Church, 
not for form's sake, or for the approbation of the 
world, though this is well worth having, — but for 
strength from above to enable you to resist tempta- 
tion and to do good. Your good example has already 



DISTURBANCES NEAR CORNWALL. 181 

helped to improve your younger brothers, and the 
continuance of it will still ensure our gratitude to 
you ; but especially for your mother's and Mary's 
sake and mine, do all you can to make us rejoice 
in you. 

" The last words my father spoke to me, when I 
first parted from him in Glin were, ' The greatest con- 
solation I have, James, on your leaving me, is that I 
feel confident you will never do anything to disgrace 
me.' And you must tell him that I write these words 
now with tears of satisfaction that I never forgot 
them, and am sure I never shall, and that I hope the 
blessing which attended them will be seen to extend 
to his grandson under his own eyes in his old age. 
Be to him what my brothers and I were to our 
grandfather, and may God Almighty bless you all. 

" Toronto, Upper Canada, 

" September 11th, 1835." 

In November of the same year, FitzGibbon's second 
son was called to the Bar of Upper Canada. 

Riotous proceedings having occurred among the 
laborers employed in the construction of the canal 
below Cornwall, Sir Francis Head sent FitzGibbon to 
restore peace among his excitable countrymen. Fears 
were entertained that advantage would be taken of 
their antagonism to their French fellow -laborers dur- 
ing the elections of 1836, and more serious trouble be 
the result. 

FitzGibbon was ordered to take fifty stand of arms 
and ammunition from Kingston to distribute to the 
local militia in the event of requiring their assistance. 

The service was, however, successfully performed, 



[82 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

and the elections, which were important, party feeling 
ii.i\ in"- been excited almost to rebellion by the ques- 

to 

tions at issue, passed without riots. As on former 
occasions, FitzGibbon trusted to his personal influ- 
ence, and did not require the aid of the militia. 

He a as appointed Justice of the Peace for the 
Eastern District about this date (June 18th, 1836), 
probably in order to give him authority to enforce 
the law against the riotous workmen he was sent to 
pacify. 

When he sold his commission in the army in 1826, 
FitzGibbon had purchased eighteen acres of land in 
Toronto, on the west side of what is now Spadina 
Avenue, and south of Queen Street. He knew that 
< Janada was a land of great promise, and time alone 
was required to develop her resources. Toronto was 
one of the earliest settled cities, and had a population 
whose descendants were likely to reap a rich harvest 
from their small sowings. Knowing this, he consid- 
ered this purchase one that would in time be an 
ample provision for his children and grandchildren, 
and was anxious to retain it at all cost to himself. 

Dent (in his " History of the Rebellion of 1837 ") 
sp2aks of FitzGibbon as " a persistent office-seeker." 
He was, indeed, active and energetic in mind as well 
as body, and was always ready to undertake more 
work. The expenses of living, as well as of carrying 
on the various schemes (small though they might be), 
that he considered incumbent upon him as a loyal 
officer of the Crown and a true subject, required 



VALEDICTORY PRAISE. 183 

means to defray their cost, and FitzGibbon doubtless 
refused no honest opportunity of earning what was 
required. He held several posts, but the aggregate 
salary was not a large one. 

The following letter from Sir John Colborne, 
through his Secretary, evidently refers to one of 
these offices : 

" Government House, 

" Toronto, Jav. 20th, 1838. 

"Sir, — With reference to your letter of the 12th 
inst., I am directed bv the Lieut. -Governor to assure 
you that His Excellency is so fully persuaded of your 
zeal and active services while he has been in the Pro- 
vince, that he has long been desirous of having an 
opportunity of conferring on you an appointment 
which might in some respects be more in accordance 
with your views and wishes. 

" His Excellency thinks it but due to you to express 
his thanks for your exertions on many occasions in 
the public service, and to notice the sacrifices which 
you have made of your time and health, in carrying 
on the various duties which you have been entrusted 
to discharge. 

" I am also to add that His Excellency will leave a 
copy of this letter with his successor, in order that 
your character and services may be made known 
to him. 

" I have the honor to be, Sir, 

" Your obedient servant, 

" W. Rowan. 

" James Fitzgibbon, Esq." 



134 A VETERAN OF 1812. 



CHAPTER IX. 

_)HE year 1837 was an eventful one, not only in 
1 the history of Upper Canada, but in the life 
and fortune of our hero. 

" It was at once," he writes, in a letter to Sir 
Augustus d'Este in 1844, " the most successful as well 
as the most disastrous of my life. What occurred 
then enabled me to accomplish something towards the 
saving of the city of Toronto and the overthrow of 
the rebels — having no thought of reward, other than 
the saving of bloodshed — and the spontaneous and 
unanimous vote of my fellow-citizens to reward me 
for what I had done, roused such hopes of freedom 
from my pecuniary difficulties that their defeat well- 
nigh imperilled my reason." 

It is difficult for the present generation, brought 
up under a regime of self-government, to understand 
the system of colonial management as carried on 
from Downing Street. 

T<> men who had, in the end of the previous cen- 
tury, given up home, friends and property for the 
sake of loyalty to the Crown, the defence and main- 
tenance of rights asserted on behalf of their sovereign 
was the highest of political duties, and they had 
brought up their children in that faith. In many it 
fell little short of the loyalty of the Cavaliers to the 



PIONEERS OF REFORM. 185 

Stuarts. Self-government by the people was Round- 
head, Puritan, Yankee — things they had fought 
against and fled from. 

They sought for property and influence at the 
hands of the monarch and his ministers, as a reward 
for their sufferings in his cause and the defence of 
his American dominions, just as the Cavaliers sought 
redress of their wrongs and reinstalment in their old 
rights by Charles II. 

To these Loyalists came active British Radicals, such 
as Gourlay and Mackenzie, while reform was workino- 
its way through the times of difficulty and cfistress 
which followed the close of the great war, bringing 
Catholic emancipation, municipal and parliamentary 
reform in England, and revolution in France. 

Many others followed Mackenzie and Gourlay to 
Canada filled with the same ideas and proud of their 
success in the old country. 

They could boast of no services for the Crown such 
as those of the U. E. Loyalists. Their sufferings and 
aspirations had all been for popular rights. 

The necessity of opening up and cultivating the 
wild lands throughout the country, and the encourage- 
ment offered to emigrants, had brought many settlers 
from the United States, whose notions of govern- 
ment had been formed in the Republic. 

An alliance between these two bodies against the 
Loyalists and their leaders in the Family Compact 
was as inevitable as was tha strife which grew up 

between these opposite forces Downing Street rule 
12 



186 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

was, for the most part, m conformity with the views 
and wishes of the U. E. Loyalists in Upper Canada, 
and with the great body of the English-speaking 
minority in the Lower Province. 

Unfortunately Sir Francis Bond Head was not 
capable of coping with these rival constituents. He 
was not a military man of any standing or experience, 
and recognized none of the signs of rebellion patent 
to those who were, or who were more in touch with 
the inevitable advance of reform ; and when the re- 
bellion, in the imminence of which that " paragon of 
eccentricity and blundering" (vide Bryce) so repeat- 
edly asserted his disbelief, actually broke out, he only 
added inaccurate statements and boastful accounts of 
his own over-weening confidence and prowess to the 
blunders already committed. 

FitzGibbon wrote several accounts of the outbreak 
of the rebellion in Upper Canada, and of Mackenzie's 
intended (attempted) attack on Toronto in December, 
1837. " An Appeal to the People of Upper Canada," 
published in 1847, is psrhaps the most exhaustive as 
regards his own share in the defence of the city. The 
' Appeal ' was written after successive events had 
robbed him of the reward voted to him by the 
unanimous voice of the House of Assembly, and the 
publication of Sir Francis Head's garbled account 
in his despatches to the Colonial Office had thrown 
discredit upon his services and bade fair to "make 
the colony over which he (Sir Francis) held so brief 
a rule, little more than a nation of liars." 



AN OBSTINATE GOVERNOR. 187 

Stung to the quick by Sir Francis Head's asser- 
tions, his entire silence on some points, half-truths on 
others ; impetuous, harassed by the difficulties which 
his pecuniary circumstances rendered unavoidable, 
sick at heart from hopes long deferred, and embittered 
by disappointment, FitzGibbon rushed into print 
before time had enabled him either to look at the 
facts calmly and state them with such diplomatic 
tact as might ensure success, or to learn with what 
credence the Lieut.-Governor's account would be re- 
ceived. 

Had FitzGibbon allowed Sir Francis to fall into the 
pit he was so persistently determined to dig for him- 
self, and had taken no precautions against the danger 
he knew was imminent ; had he merely shrugged his 
shoulders and allowed the Lieut.-Governor to take 
the responsibility of leaving the city unprepared, and, 
when the principal buildings were in flames, and the 
rebels armed with the muskets Sir Francis refused to 
place at the service of the loyal defenders, had he 
then stepped in, and at the cost of valuable lives and 
property won a pitched battle, and driven out a 
greater number of rebels, he would probably have 
been knighted, or had other honors paid him. 

To do this, however, was not FitzGibbon's nature. 
He had seen too much of the sad scenes of war, knew 
too much of its realities, was too generous and noble- 
minded to profit by another's folly, to run the risk of 
such bloodshed and devastation. He saw on all sides 



188 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

evidences of the imminence of an outbreak of rebel- 
lion against the authorities. 

From the year 1815, when Sir Francis Gore, by his 
policy as Lieut. -Governor of Upper Canada, had sown 
the seeds of future trouble, FitzGibbon had watched 
the course of events with interest, and from 1824 
with ever-increasing anxiety. He communicated this 
anxiety to Sir John Colborne in 1834, and was re- 
quested by him to carry out one of the suggestions 
he offered, as a precautionary measure — the formation 
of a corps of young men in Toronto, ostensibly for 
the purpose of instruction in drill, that they might 
be better fitted for commissions in the militia when 
required. The corps was limited to seventy, that 
being the number of rifles available from the military 
stores. During the summer months of the three 
successive years, FitzGibbon drilled these lads twice 
a week, and in order to encourage them to equip them- 
selves in correct military style, went to the expense 
of procuring rifle uniforms for himself and eldest 
son. This might well be called the first military 
school in Canada. 

Perhaps the happiest hours of those years were 
spent in this labor of love. He was a soldier before 
everything. He loved the very rattle of accoutre- 
ments, and took a genuine pride in the improvement 
and smartness of his company. He valued drill not 
only as a means of making a man upright in his 
carriage, prompt and vigorous in his movements, but 
as calculated to regulate his mind, strengthen his 



REBELLION IN LOWER CANADA. 189 

character for uprightness, honesty, obedience and 
straightforward simplicity, and draw out latent re- 
source and talent. Add to this the confident expec- 
tation that his efforts would not be thrown away, 
but in the hour of need the time spent in drilling 
would bear fruit, and we may understand the pride 
of the soldier in his " boys." 

" It may not be irrelevant to observe in conclusion," 
writes one of the corps, the late Walter Mackenzie, 
" that your previous instructions assuredly enabled 
many members of the rifle corps to render efficient 
service at the critical period in question (the out- 
break). For myself, I may assert that my appoint- 
ment to the command of one of the four principal 
divisions organized in the Market Square of this place, 
on Tuesday morning, the 5th of December, 1837, must 
have arisen from my connection with that body, and 
that my confidence in assuming the charge was 
materially increased by finding myself under the 
guidance of an officer of your ardent zeal and dis- 
tinguished services." (Letter from the late Walter 
Mackenzie to Colonel Fitz Gibbon.) 

The tidings of the rising of the French-Canadians 
in Lower Canada in 1837 added certainty to Fitz- 
Gibbon's forebodings, and induced him to redouble 
his efforts to persuade his friends and fellow-citizens 
to join him in preparing for the like contingency. 

That the members of the Government at that date 
were not only swayed by the opinions and will of the 
Governor then in office, but were practically governed 



190 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

by him, the light of the present day, thrown upon 
the events of the past, shows plainly. Where, as in 
1837, the Governor was a narrow-minded, self-opin- 
ionated and obstinate man, it mattered little of what 
constituents his council was composed. Good and 
true men as many were, they were either overruled 
by the Governor's authority and determination, or 
silenced by doubt, or fearful of incurring the respon- 
sibility of dissension or acting without his authority. 
In such a man the rebsls recognized their most useful 
ally, and in his obstinate, contradictory nature and 
his persistent disregard of the advice of the few who 
saw the probable result of such culpable blindness, 
able assistants.* 



* That FitzGibbon was not the only one who endeavored to warn 
Sir Francis of the threatened danger and urge the need of precau- 
tions being taken, is shown by the following extract from a letter 
written from Cobourg by the Rev. Egerton Ryerson to a friend in 
Kingston : ' You will recollect my mentioning that I pressed upon 
Sir Francis Head the propriety and importance of making some 
prudent provision for the defence of the city, in case any party 
should be urged on in the madness of rebellion so far as to attack 
it. He is much blamed here on account of his over- weening con- 
fidence, and foolish and culpable negligence in this respect." 

Again, when telling his brother William of the efforts to induce 
Sir George Arthur (Sir Francis' successor) to commute the sentence 
of Lount and Matthews, two of the rebels condemned to death, he 
repeats : ' ' I also mentioned to the Governor that you and the Rev. 
J. Stinson had waited on Sir Francis about four weeks previous to 
the insurrection ; that you informed him of insurrectionary move- 
ments about Lloydtown and other places, which you had learned 
from me ; that you had strongly urged Sir Francis to raise volun- 
teers and put the city and other places in a state of defence ; that 



REPEATED WARNINGS. 191 

FitzGibbon's way to his office in the Parliament 
buildings lay, as has been said, along the Bay shore 
on the stretch of land below Front Street. Here he 
frequently met Sir Francis Head on his way to walk 
for exercise on the long wharf near the garrison. 

These meetings led to long and animated conversa- 
tions on many subjects, but chiefly upon the state of 
the Province and political parties. The Governor's 
opinions differed greatly from FitzGibbon's on many 

you and I had waited on the Attorney-General next day, and that 
we had urged these things on him in a similar manner, but that 
these statements and advice had been disregarded, if not disbe- 
lieved." 

Again, after expressing his decided opinion that "punishments 
for political offences can never be beneficial when they are inflicted 
in opposition to public sentiment and sympathy," Dr. Ryerson 
adds: "The fact is, however, that Sir Francis Head deserves im- 
peachment just as much as Samuel Lount deserves execution. 
Morally speaking, I cannot but regard Sir Francis as the more 
guilty culprit of the two." (Extract from " The Story of my Life." 
Ryerson. ) 

Again, after speaking of the evil effects of Sir F. B. Head's 
arbitrary conduct upon the country, and the state of dissatisfaction 
everywhere evident, William Ryerson says: "After all we know 
but little of the calamities and miseries with which our once happy 
land is now afflicted, and yet Sir Francis, the most guilty author of 
this misery, escapes without punishment ; yes, with honor and 
praise. How mysterious are the ways of Providence ; how dark, 
crooked and perverse the ways of men." 

Colonel Foster, the Assistant Adjutant-General, also repeatedly 
urged Sir Francis Head to retain a small regular force in the Upper 
Province, and he also wrote to Sir John Colborne, representing the 
mischief that was likely to be the result of the withdrawal of all 
the military quartered in Upper Canada, particularly Toronto and 
its vicinity. 



192 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

important points. Fearful that Sir Francis might 
think he threw himself in his way, or finding the 
arguments their conversation often ended in irksome, 
FitzGibbon, upon seeing him approaching, would 
sometimes turn aside in another direction, that he 
might avoid meeting him. Sir Francis, however, 
frequently called to him, or, if out of reach of his 
voice, beckoned him with his stick to wait for him. 

FitzGibbon has left no details of these morning 
chats, only the general idea that he, too, took the 
opportunity of urging upon Sir Francis the great 
need of making some preparation, or taking some 
measures to ensure the safety of the city and the 
prevention of loss of property; and by being in 
readiness to put down any rising, practically prevent 
it. FitzGibbon, confident that his fears were not 
groundless, saw it coming ; the Governor, deter- 
minedly shutting his eyes, refused to believe it either 
probable or possible. 

When Sir John Colborne asked Sir Francis Head 
how many of the troops then in Upper Canada he 
could spare for service in Lower Canada, he answered 
" All." 

When the last detachment, consisting of a sub- 
altern and thirty men, were on their way from Pene- 
tanguishene through Toronto, FitzGibbon begged the 
Lieut.-Governor to keep them in the city, " if only as 
a nucleus for the militia to rally round." 

This he also refused, saying, " No, not a man. The 
doing so would destroy the whole morale of my 



ARMS AND AMMUNITION. 193 

policy ; if the militia cannot defend the Province, the 
sooner it is lost the better." 

" Then, sir," exclaimed FitzGibbon, " let us be armed 
and ready to defend ourselves." 

" No," replied Sir Francis, " I will do nothing. I 
do not apprehend a rebellion in Upper Canada." 

Six thousand stand of small arms with ammunition 
had been sent a short time before to Toronto from 
Kingston, and deposited by the Lieut. - Governor's 
orders in the market buildings, under the keeping of 
the civic authorities, the two constables being on 
guard over them at night. FitzGibbon considered 
this protection, under the circumstances, insufficient. 
He called upon and urged Sir Francis to allow him 
to organize a guard from his rifle corps to prevent 
any attempt on the part of the rebels to obtain 
forcible possession. 

This offer was also declined, the Lieut. -Governor 
emphasizing his refusal by the assertion " that were 
it not that he disliked to undo what he had already 
done, he would have the arms brought to Govern- 
ment House and entrusted to the keeping of his own 
domestic servants." 

In despair of being able to induce Sir Francis to 
realize the need of action, FitzGibbon desisted and 
withdrew. Before reaching the passage he was re- 
called by His Excellency in person, and requested to 
"make the offer in writing." 

This FitzGibbon was very willing to do, the man- 
ner of the request leading him to hope that his offer 



104 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

would then be accepted. His surprise, therefore, 
may be understood, when the following day's issue of 
the Toronto Patriot, the Tory organ, contained a 
printed copy of the offer made to His Excellency. 

Had FitzGibbon been self-seeking, or anxious only 
for self-aggrandizement, he might have turned this 
to his own advantage, but he saw only that Sir 
Francis used the offer of a guard, for which he had 
asked in writing, to publish to the Province that he 
had no fear of rebellion, and to throw odium on the 
man who urged preventive measures being taken. 
Although such blindness seems incredible, Sir Francis 
doubtless calculated to be able in the event of there 
being no rising, to boast of how much more correctly 
he had estimated the political situation than the more 
anxious of his advisers. 

But this was not all. Sir Francis not only made 
an ungentlemanly use of this offer, but, knowing how 
unlikely it was that a copy of the Patriot would ever 
reach the eyes of the officials at home, he entirely 
ignored the offer in his despatches to the Colonial 
Office. 

Some little time previous to this, FitzGibbon had 
been transferred from the command of the 4th Regi- 
ment of York Militia to that of the 1st Regiment of 
the city of Toronto. In this regiment FitzGibbon 
found many vacancies. True to his nature to do at 
once work that lay close to his hand, and which he 
considered from the circumstances required attention, 
he made out a list of candidates for the vacant com- 



PERSONAL POPULARITY. 105 

missions and submitted it to His Excellency. Believ- 
ing it would ensure more speedy consideration being 
paid to it, he carried the list to Sir Francis personally. 
The Lieut. -Governor took the paper, read the list it 
contained and handed it back to FitzGibbon, declining 
positively to do anything until the following summer. 
Exasperated by what he thought extraordinary folly, 
yet unable to act in this manner without authority, 
FitzGibbon racked his excitable brain to devise means 
by which to make some preparation, however email, 
to meet and hold the rebels in check until, when the 
Governor's eyes were opened by finding them at his 
door, proper and more effective measures would be 
taken to defeat them. 

It must be remembered that FitzGibbon's popu- 
larity, the devotion to him personally he had won 
from many he had at various times befriended, sym- 
pathized with, or saved from getting into trouble or 
sorrow ; the friendly word and kindly smile he had 
always ready for the most insignificant, his intense 
individuality, his ready interest in others and the 
sort of hero worship his daring deeds and reputation 
had won for him in the minds of the lads of the next 
generation, put him in possession of means of infor- 
mation which he might act upon but could not betray. 

He had also been the first provincial acting Grand 
Master of the Freemasons in Upper Canada, and 
though he had resigned that office in 1826, he was 
still a prominent member of the fraternity. He had 
lived in neighborly contact with his fellow-citizens 



19G A VETERAN OF 1812. 

for over twenty years. He had been valued and 
honored by his commanders and superior officers 
through the war of 1812-14 

He had known York in the days when it was little 
more than a garrison, and, in consequence of the civil 
appointments he had held in the intervening years, 
had not only had the opportunity but the will to 
know every additional member of the increasing 
population. 

Sir Francis, on the other hand, knew little or noth- 
ing of the colony he had been taken from comparative 
obscurity to govern — knew little in fact of men or 
politics — had no tact, but was amply provided with 
insular prejudice, without the knowledge which en- 
nobles it or robs it of an obstinacy of which the only 
designatory adjective is pig-headed. Nor, it may be 
said, did Sir Francis know anything of FitzGibbon 
beyond what a man of his limited penetration could 
learn in the short period of his residence in the Pro- 
vince. The obstinate contradictoriness of his nature 
resented being argued out of preconceived opinions by 
a man of FitzGibbon's excitable temperament, and one 
who made no secret of having risen from the ranks 
of a line regiment.* 

h The impression made by FitzGibbon's repeated assertion of 
this fact has led to many blunders on the part of his biographers, 
who state that he was " the son of a poor cotter on the Knight of 
Glin's estate," "of humble origin," etc.— blunders which only care- 
ful search among family papers, a visit to the ruins of the old house 
on the hill above the towers of Glin, and the Knight's corroborative 
testimony, gleaned from his title deeds and family records, has 
efFW'.tuallv corrected. 



PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES. 1C7 

His anxious desire to take some precautionary 
measures receiving no encouragement, but distinctly 
the reverse, from Sir Francis Head, FitzGibbon deter- 
mined upon acting on his own responsibility. 

Enumerating the men in Toronto upon whose loy- 
alty he knew he could rely, to the number of 126, and 
taking the list to Government House, this irrepressible 
defender of his home showed it to Sir Francis, with 
the intimation that he " intended to warn each of the 
men on the list to be in readiness to come armed to 
the Parliament House, at any hour of the day or 
night, upon hearing the college bell ring the alarm," 
and " that he also meant to ask the Mayor of the city 
to warn all his loyal friends east of Yonge Street to 
rally to his aid at the City Hall upon the ringing of 
the cathedral bells." 

Pausing for a moment, but not long enough to 
allow His Excellency to utter the refusal he feared 
was on his lips, FitzGibbon added : " For the doing of 
this I desire to have your Excellency's sanction, but 
permit me to tell your Excellency that, whether you 
give me leave or not, I mean to do it." 

Sir Francis looked at him with indignant surprise 
as FitzGibbon continued : " I say so with all due re- 
spect to your Excellency, as the representative of my 
sovereign, but you are so convinced that we are in 
no danger that you will take no precautions ; but I, 
being fully convinced that the danger is most immi- 
nent, am determined to take every measure in my 



198 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

power to devise for the protection of my family and 

friends." 

Sir Francis did not reply immediately, but, after a 
pause of doubt and uncertainty, he at last gave a 
reluctant consent, much as if it was forced from him 
by the soldier's determined words. 

Whether willingly or unwillingly given, it was still 
consent. Thanking His Excellency, FitzGibbon with- 
drew. He went at once to the City Hall, where, in 
the presence of Alderman Dickson (Dixon ?) he com- 
municated the result of his interview with Sir Francis, 
and asked the Mayor to co-operate with him and 
undertake that someone should be at hand to ring 
the bells of the cathedral when warned by the ring- 
ing of the college bells. 

Sir Francis was not the only one who thought 
FitzGibbon over-anxious and over-zealous in thus 
taking timely precautions against surprise by the 
rebels, who, he knew, were arming and being drilled 
in the outlying districts about Toronto. When he 
called upon the Chief Justice he met with something 
of the same opposition he had received at the hands 
of the Lieut.-Governor. Upon stating his object and 
expressing his fears, the Chief said : " Colonel Fitz- 
Gibbon, I cannot partake of your apprehens'ons, and 
I am sorry you are alarming the people in this way." 

FitzGibbon repeated what he had said to Sir 
Francis, and again reiterated his determination not to 
be persuaded by anyone to desist from taking what 
precaution he could against being surprised by an 



CHIEF JUSTICE ROBINSON. 199 

undisciplined rabble such as he expected the rebel 
force would be. He, however, yielded so far to the 
Chief Justice as to agree to warn the heads of families 
only. 

The insurgent forces were gathered, the rebellion 
broke out, and the college bells rang the alarm before 
FitzGibbon had time to warn fifty of the one hundred 
and twenty-six men whose names were on his list. 

Although the following letter was written some 
two years later, I think I cannot do better than 
insert it here. FitzGibbon never blamed the men 
who at this time were so incredulous. They had as 
deep interests at stake as any could have, and would 
have been as prompt to defend them had they not 
been blinded by the false security in which Sir 
Francis had wrapped himself, and apprehended no 
danger of any actual rebellion. The conduct of the 
Chief Justice after the event was, however, that of a 
generous man. It contrasted very favorably with 
that of the Governor. 

(Extract from the letter of CJiief Justice Robinson. ) 

" My Dear Bishop —I think Colonel FitzGibbon 
may feel assured that the Government has a just 
sense of his faithful and valuable services. If I had 
any doubt of this, I would most readily repeat in 
writing what I have taken occasion to say to the 
Secretary of State, on that subject. 

" During the many years that Colonel FitzGibbon 
has resided in Upper Canada, his resolute character, 
his ardent loyalty, and his active and intelligent 



200 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

mind, have led him and have enabled him to render 
important services to the Government and to the 
Province, and on several occasions when I think it 
would have been difficult to find anyone else who 
could have discharged the same duty so efficiently. 

" With regard to his services in 1837, I have no 
doubt (and I should be happy to state this on every 
occasion where it could be useful to him) that his 
earnest conviction before the outbreak that violence 
would be attempted, and the measures of precaution 
which he spontaneously took in consequence of that 
impression, were the means of saving the Government 
and the loyal inhabitants of Toronto from being for 
a time at least at the mercy of the rebels ; and I 
believe that the most disastrous consequences would 
have followed the surprise which Colonel FitzGib- 
bon's vigilance prevented. His conduct also, when 
the crisis did occur, was most meritorious. 

" The Legislature has shown a strong sense of this 
service, and a great desire to reward it ; and I am 
persuaded that no one would receive more pleasure 
than the present Lieut.-Governor of Upper Canada 
and his predecessor, from any measure of Her Majes- 
ty's which should have the effect of recompensing 
Colonel Fitz Gibbon in such manner as may be most 
agreeable and useful to himself. 

"(Signed) John B. Robinson." 

[Enclosed in a note from the Lord Bishop of Tor- 
onto, dated London, 83 Sackville Street, 16th August, 
1839.] 

On Saturday, December 2nd, a man whose name 
is not given in any of the papers, either printed or 
in manuscript to which I have had access, came to 



1 



SECRET INFORMATION. 201 

the Adjutant-General's office and asked to speak with 
FitzGibbon in private. 

At this interview FitzGibbon obtained further 
information concerning the movements of the disaf- 
fected, and of arms being sent from all points to the 
north of Toronto. He endeavored to persuade his 
nformant to repeat it to the Governor and his Coun- 
cil, but without success. The man declined positively. 
He had revealed what he had seen and heard to Fitz- 
Gibbon as to a fellow-mason, and refused to run the 
risk of losing life or property at the hands of the 
rebels by permitting his name to transpire. They 
(the rebels) knew that he had come into town upon 
urgent private business, and believed it was for that 
alone he was there. He could not depend upon any- 
one else keeping his name secret, and if it was be- 
trayed, assassination upon his return, or destruction 
to his property if he remained in town, would be the 
inevitable result. 

Knowing how much more satisfactory this infor- 
mation would be if delivered first-hand to the Lieut. - 
Governor, instead of through him, FitzGibbon urged 
it by every argument he could advance, but only 
succeeded so far as to induce the man to say where 
he might be found, if Sir Francis should demand his 
presence. 

The tidings warranted the belief that the outbreak 

was as imminent as FitzGibbon feared, yet such was 

the opposition he met with both from the Governor 

and his assembled Council, to whom he lost no time 
13 



202 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

in communicating it, that the man was summoned 
and interviewed by Sir Francis and the Attorney- 
General, and the intelligence discussed for nearly six 
hours without any definite conclusion being arrived 
at or any orders issued to meet even a possible emer- 
gency. 

In vain FitzGibbon urged the necessity of some 
precautions being taken, some preparation being made 
to guard against surprise. Neither the Lieut.-Gover- 
nor nor his Council would consent, the Hon. Wm. 
Allan alone advocating FitzGibbon's advice being 
taken. 

In reply to Sir Francis' weak objection, that the 
man's report had not made the same impression on 
his mind as it had apparently upon Colonel Fitz- 
Gibbon's, the information he brought being at third 
and fourth-hand, FitzGibbon reiterated the question : 

*' ' What impression does it make on the man's own 
mind ? Has he not seen in a blacksmith's forge bags 
filled with what he has no doubt are pike-heads ? 
Has he not seen the handles already made, and the 
timber prepared for more, which, he was told, were 
intended for hayrakes or pitchforks? And has he 
any doubt at all of the object of all the preparations 
which he, from day to day, has seen making in the 
neighborhood ? ' 

'Whereupon the Hon. Wm. Allan said : 'What would 
you have, gentlemen ? Do you expect the rebels will 
come and give you information at first-hand ? How 
can you expect such information but at second, third 



APPOINTED ADJUTANT-GENERAL. 203 

or fourth hand ? I am as long in this country as most 
of you, gentlemen. I know the people of this coun- 
try as well as most of you, and I agree in every 
word spoken here to-day by Colonel FitzGibbon, and 
think that an hour should not be lost without prepar- 
ing ourselves for defence/ 

" After Mr. Allan had done speaking, I turned to 
His Excellency and said : ' In short, sir, when I came 
here this morning, I expected that your Excellency 
would give me leave to go into the streets and take 
up every half-pay officer and discharged soldier I 
could find in the city, and place them this very day in 
the garrison to defend it.' 

" To this His Excellency answered : 'What would the 
people of England say were we thus to arm ? And 
besides, were we to pass the militia by, they would 
feel themselves insulted.' 

" To which I replied : ' Pardon me, your Excellency : 
they would rejoice to see me organize the military to 
be a nucleus for them to rally round.' 

" When I withdrew from this meeting or council, 
and reflected on all that had passed, I did fear that I 
should be looked upon by those present as a presump- 
tuous and arrogant man, for I spoke with great 
earnestness and fervor." ("An Appeal to the People 
of Upper Canada.") 

This meeting was held on Saturday. Nothing was 
done until Monday morning, when FitzGibbon being 
sent for, Sir Francis read a militia general order, 
appointing him Adjutant-General, and ordered him 



204 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

to sign all general orders and documents issuing from 
the Department as Adjutant-General. 

After a moment's hesitation, FitzGibbon declined 
putting himself into what would be a false position. 
The law allowed only one adjutant-general, and as 
Colonel Coffin still held that post, another could not 
legally be appointed. Reflecting, however, that even 
the nominal holding of such a position would enable 
him to do much upon the authority of his office that 
would otherwise be impossible, FitzGibbon consented, 
provided the words " Acting Adjutant-General " were 
allowed to follow his signature. There was another 
reason for his reluctance to accept this appointment, 
in the fact that some time previously Sir Francis had 
questioned him upon the condition of the working of 
the Adjutant-General's department, and the state of 
things was such that he had been obliged to report 
neglect and inefficiency on the part of the official 
holding that position ; and his being a personal friend 
made it a sin against the noblesse oblige of his race to 
appear to supplant him. Now, however, he saw no 
alternative but to do so to some extent, or lose the 
one chance that offered by which he might obtain the 
power to do what he was so confident the safety of 
the country required. It was a sacrifice of personal 
feeling for the benefit of others, the loss of one for 
the gain of the many. That the friendship between 
the two men was unbroken by it is but one more 
proof of the estimation for integrity of purpose and 



A MILITIA GENERAL ORDER. 205 

loyalty to the truth in which FitzGibbon was held by 
friend and foe alike. 

Sir Francis consented to the proviso, and immedi- 
ately prepared a militia general order, appealing to 
the officers commanding regiments and corps in the 
Province, and conveying instructions for their guid- 
ance in the event of that which FitzGibbon now 
believed was inevitable — the possible outbreak of re- 
bellion. 

FitzGibbon carried a copy of this order to the 
Queen's printer the same day, but it was not ready 
for circulation in time to be of much use as a pre- 
cautionary measure. The outbreak occurred on the 
night of the same day in which it was placed in the 
printer's hands. 

Though FitzGibbon, in writing of this memorable 

day, December 4th, has given no positive detail of 

information obtained which served to increase his 

apprehensions of the imminence of the outbreak, his 

actions go to prove that he believed it but a question 

of hours. Mackenzie had attacked him personally 

in the columns of his paper, and was probably kept 

informed by his friends of FitzGibbon's appeals to 

Sir Francis, as well as of the Lieut.-Governor's refusals 

^> provide against surprise. 

""On the afternoon of the 4th, the discovery that 

suspicious-looking characters had been seen lurking 

about the neighborhood of his house, led FitzGibbon 

to believe that he might be especially marked for the 

rebel vengeance. 



206 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

There is a dim recollection in my mind of a story 
told me when a very small child — so dim, however, it 
is, that I do no wish to advance it here as authentic 
in the remotest degree. If, however, there is even 
the least foundation of truth in it, FitzGibbon's cer- 
tainty of the advance of the rebels and their singling 
him out for especial attention would be explained. 

The story was told us in the nursery, and belongs 
to the treasured traditions of my childhood. One of 
the young men, returning from an outlying district 
in the early dusk of the winter twilight, happened to 
pass by a low house in the northern outskirts of the 
city. A light in an upper window and the mention 
of FitzGibbon's name heard through a narrow open- 
ing, the sash being raised on a reel of cotton, attracted 
his attention. He stayed to hear more. His horse's 
feet making no sound upon the soft, wet grass, the 
gentle creature, obeying his hand, drew close to the 
window in silence. Half a dozen men were in close 
converse in the room, discussing the intended march 
on Toronto that night, and their confidence of success. 

Waiting to hear no more, the lad walked his horse 
until out of hearing from the house, then hastened 
into the city to report what he had heard to Fitz- 
Gibbon. Whether in confidence, or whether the in- 
formant was one of his own sons, and he feared the 
lad's interest and excitement had exaggerated the 
importance of what he had overheard, and did not 
wish his name mentioned, my memory fails to recall ; 
the chief item impressed on my childish mind being 



A MIDNIGHT INTERVIEW. 207 

that some important intelligence was obtained through 
a window sash propped open with a reel of cotton, 
and that the rider had such loving control over his 
horse that he was enabled to ride away undiscovered, 
and convey the tidings to the colonel. 

FitzGibbon merely says that as night approached 
he became more apprehensive of impending danger, 
and consequently determined to sleep at his office in 
the Parliament House until he considered the crisis 
over. Late in the day he invited several of his 
friends to spend the evening with him, an invitation 
readily accepted. Although they might not share 
his apprehensions, many were willing to share his 
vigils. FitzGibbon was an excellent raconteur, and 
is frequently spoken of as "one of the most enter- 
taining and amusing men of his day." Few of the 
men of his acquaintance would refuse to spend the 
night with him. 

About ten o'clock, some other incident occurring, 
the detail of which he does not give, FitzGibbon 
deemed it as well to inform His Excellency of his 
fears for the night, and his intention of remaining at 
the buildings. He found upon reaching Government 
House that Sir Francis had retired for the night. 
Looking back now upon the insistence of the man, 
one cannot but acknowledge that he must have been 
regarded as an intolerable nuisance by those who did 
not share his apprehensions, and this disturbing of 
vice-regal slumbers a great annoyance. 

In vain Mrs. Dalrymple protested that her brother 



208 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

was fatigued, and that it was hard that he should 
be disturbed. FitzGibbon insisted, and the Governor 
came down in his dressing-gown to hear what he had 
to say, and no doubt returned to his rest in nowise 
more convinced than hitherto, and possibly in no 
very amiable mood. An hour later, information was 
brought to FitzGibbon that the rebels were actually 
approaching the city in force from the north. 

Sending Mr. Cameron, one of his rifle corps, to 
ring the college bell, FitzGibbon mounted a horse 
belonging to the House messenger and kept in a 
stable close at hand, and galloped from house to house 
in the west end of the city, warning the occupants 
and bidding them hasten to the Parliament buildings, 
armed, as the rebels were then approaching the city. 
The college bells were rung, but the city bells were 
still silent. Annoyed and anxious lest nothing but 
a confused, unarmed body of citizens should assem- 
ble, to fall an easy prey to the rebels, and knowing 
that even momentary success would swell the rebel 
ranks, FitzGibbon rode to the cathedral. Finding 
the doors still locked, he shouted for someone to 
run for the keys ; then, when to his impatience the 
messenger seemed long in returning, he called for 
axes to break open the doors. The keys, however, 
arrived in time to prevent other means being resorted 
to ; the doors opened and the bells rung, but not until 
half an hour of what might have been valuable time 
was lost. FitzGibbon had relied on the promise given 
him by the Mayor, that the city bells should be rung 



OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION. 209 

as soon as the ringing of the college bells gave the 
alarm. 

Giving directions that the cases containing the 
arms in the City Hall should be opened, and their 
contents distributed to the men as they came in, Fitz- 
Gibbon, accompanied by two students, who were also 
mounted, rode up Yonge Street to ascertain what pro- 
gress the rebels were making toward the city. Reach- 
ing the ravine opposite Rosedale without encountering 
any rebel force, FitzGibbon began to fear that his 
alarm was premature, and that he had laid himself 
open to ridicule by his extraordinary proceedings 
and excitement. He determined, however, to guard 
against possible contingencies and carry out his plans. 
He saw there would be time to place a picket on 
Yonge Street, to check the expected advance of the 
rebels, but before turning to retrace his steps, he ex- 
pressed a regret that he had not a few more mounted 
and armed men with him, as he might then have 
ridden on to Montgomery's, the reported headquarters 
or rendezvous of the enemy, and reconnoitred his 
position more satisfactorily. The two lads eagerly 
volunteered to do so, but FitzGibbon was very re- 
luctant to allow them to undertake such a service. 
One of them, Mr. Brock, had been sent out to Canada 
and placed under his especial care by his father, 
Major Brock, who had served with FitzGibbon in the 
49th, and had since proved himself a most generous 
and kind friend. 

Not wishing to expose his friend's son to unneces- 



2i0 a Veteran of 1812. 

sary < Linger, FitzGibbon at first refused, but the lads 
were so anxious and so confident no harm would 
happen them, that he at length consented and returned 
to the city without them. He had not ridden many 
yards before he met Mr. Powell, one of the city alder- 
men, and Mr. McDonald, the wharfinger, also riding 
out to learn what truth there was in the rumors of 
rebels mustering at Montgomery's. FitzGibbon hailed 
them with satisfaction, begged them to ride on quickly 
and overtake Mr. Brock and Mr. Bellingham, and 
continued his way, relieved of some of his anxiety 
concerning the lads. FitzGibbon's surprise was there- 
fore great upon arriving at Government House a short 
time after to find Mr. Powell there before him. Mr. 
Brock and his friend had been met and taken prisoners 
by the rebels within a few minutes of their parting 
with FitzGibbon and Mr Powell, encountering them 
directly after, had been summoned to surrender him- 
self also. Instead of complying, he had fired at and 
shot their leader, then turning his horse had galloped 
back to town. Finding the toll-bar shut, and no one 
replying to his shout, fearing pursuit, he had left his 
horse and made his way across the fields to Govern- 
ment House, where he found the Governor still in 
bed, the clamor of the bells not having disturbed him. 
Mr. Powell's report roused him to the reality of the 
impending danger, and for the first time he was ready 
to take FitzGibbon's advice, though it was only to 
dress himself and come with him to the market-place. 
While FitzGibbon was thus escorting the Lieut.- 



AN ANXIOUS NIGHT. 211 

Governor to the centre of defensive operations, the 
City Hall, Judge Jones, who had grumbled at the 
over-zeal of FitzGibbon when wakened by his messen- 
ger an hour before, had also realized the necessity for 
action. He had formed a picket, and marched it out 
to the toll-bar on Yonge Street. Riding thither, 
FitzGibbon learned that the rebels, alarmed by the 
fall of their leader and the ringing of the city bells, 
had returned to Montgomery's. Sentries were then 
carefully posted. The remainder of the night was 
spent in arming and organizing the citizens. 

One of the first men FitzGibbon had roused when 
warned of the approach of the rebels was the Assis- 
tant Adjutant-General, Colonel Foster. To him, more 
than perhaps to any other member of the Govern- 
ment, was due the rapid and effective organization 
of the mass of excited citizens — who had rushed 
unarmed, and in many cases panic-stricken, to the 
market-place — into an orderly defensive force. 

FitzGibbon speaks in one of his letters of this 
night as one of the most anxious he ever spent. If 
we consider the nature of the service required of him, 
we may realize his anxiety. He had to deal with an 
excited mob, hastily aroused from their beds, many of 
them sympathizers with or themselves unavowedly 
rebels, crowding to the City Hall unarmed, but ready 
to seize the weapons served out (without any possi- 
bility of distinguishing friend from foe), and use 
them either in attack or defence, whichever- side scored 
the first success and turned the scale ; but recently, 



2l2 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

almost at the eleventh hour, appointed to the com- 
mand, having no regular soldiers, men who fall into 
the ranks mechanically at a word and obey orders in 
silence ; with militia regiments insufficiently officered 
amid the darkness, the clamor of the bells mingled 
with the excited exclamations of the mob ; the panic 
caused by the flying rumors and exaggerated reports 
of the extent of the outbreak (rumors circulated by 
Mackenzie's friends and sympathizers), and the feel- 
ing of certainty that if the rebel force struck the first 
blow with even partial success, hundreds who now 
appeared loyal would join the standard of revolt. 
Under such circumstances, we can not only realize 
FitzGibbon's anxiety, but can understand the value 
of the few old military officers and men upon whose 
technical and practical knowledge, as well as loyalty, 
he could rely. 

The militia certainly deserved the chief credit and 
great praise for service rendered under most trying 
circumstances, but the assistance of men like Colonel 
Foster was a large factor in the organization of the 
people into a force capable of guarding the city. 
FitzGibbon speaks later of Sir Francis Head's desire 
to act through the militia rather than through those 
who had any pretensions to military experience, as if 
regardless of the injury he must do by neglecting to 
avail himself of the professional services at his dis- 
posal, giving as an instance in point Sir Francis' 
refusal to accept an officer formerly belonging to the 
68 th Light Infantry as his aide-de-camp, requesting 



WILLIAM RYERSON'S LETTER. 213 

that FitzGibbon should send him a militia officer to 
act in that capacity on Thursday, December 7th. 

This policy of the Lieut.-Governor may in a 
measure account for the absence of many names in 
the various accounts of that period and the promin- 
ence given to the militiamen in the excitement in 
Toronto during the first few days of the rebellion in 
Upper Canada. 

By sunrise on Tuesday, the men were formed in 
platoons in the Market Square, the one gun, a 6- 
pounder, mounted and loaded in front of the City 
Hall* 

Rumors reaching FitzGibbon that the rebels, having 
retired to Montgomery's, were felling trees and forti- 
fying their position, he rode out to ascertain what 
truth there might be in the report. He was accom- 
panied by Captain Halkett of the Guards, Sir Francis' 



* Extract from William Ryerson's letter to Dr. Ryerson, Decem- 
ber 5th, 1837 : 

" Last night about twelve or one o'clock the bells rang with great 
violence ; we all thought it was the alarm of fire, but being unable 
to see any light we thought it was a false alarm, and we remained 
quiet until this morning, when on visiting the market-place I found 
a large number of persons serving out arms to others as fast as they 
possibly could. Among others, we saw the Lieut.-Governor, in his 
every-day suit, with one double-barrelled gun in his hand, another 
leaning against his breast, and a brace of pistols in his leathern belt. 
Also Chief Justice Robinson, Judges Macaulay, Jones and McLean, 
the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General, with their muskets, 
cartridge boxes and bayonets, all standing in ranks as private 
soldiers, under the command of Colonel FitzGibbon." (" Story of 
my Life," p. 177.) 



214 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

aide-de-camp and four others. The rumor was with- 
out foundation, the road was open and the position of 
the rebels such that FitzGibbon felt confident a prompt 
attack would certainly disperse them without much, 
if any, loss. Full of this opinion he returned, and 
going at once to Sir Francis, begged to be allowed to 
march three , hundred of the five hundred men then 
in the Market Square, with the 6-pounder, to attack 
the enemy at once. To his surprise and indignation 
Sir Francis replied : " No, sir, I will not fight them 
on their ground ; they must fight me on mine." 

In vain FitzGibbon urged the advisability of mak- 
ing an attack upon the rebels before their number 
increased. In vain he represented how much less the 
loss of life and property would be if the rebels were 
defeated or dispersed before they entered or attacked 
the city — how much less difficult to surround and 
defeat them on their own ground, or to defend one 
entrance to the city, if they should be even partially 
successful in resisting the attack, than to guard and 
watch the many approaches by which their most 
powerful weapon, incendiarism, might enter it. 

Sir Francis would listen to none of his arguments 
or entreaties. Finding that persistence only aroused 
irritation, FitzGibbon reluctantly desisted. 

Tuesday was spent in further preparation. The 
picket posted by Judge Jones on Yonge Street had 
been withdrawn in the morning, and as the evening 
approached FitzGibbon undertook to form another to 
mount guard during the night. 



SHERIFF JARVIS' PICKET. 215 

While selecting and drawing up the men, Sir 
Francis saw him from a neighboring window, and 
sending for him demanded, " What are you doing ? " 
Upon FitzGibbon replying that he was forming a 
picket to place on Yonge Street, he ordered him per- 
emptorily not to send out a man. FitzGibbon urged 
not only the importance but the absolute necessity of 
not leaving the road open and unguarded. Sir Francis 
only reiterated his command. 

" We have not men enough to defend the city. Let 
us defend our posts, and it is my positive order that 
you do not leave this building yourself." 

FitzGibbon protested against such an arbitrary 
command, but Sir Francis only repeated it. Disgusted 
at such ignorance, and annoyed that he should be the 
victim ; feeling that he was being treated like a child 
who had been given a task to do, and then told he 
was incapable of attempting it, FitzGibbon left the 
room — not, however, to obey. He was not a man 
to give up what his knowledge of military tactics 
and night fighting, as well as the possible designs of 
the rebel force, such as had flocked to Mackenzie's 
standard, told him was the right and best course to 
pursue. The picket posted on Yonge Street was a 
necessary precaution, and, Sir Francis' commands to 
the contrary, he meant to so post it. He only did 
out of His Excellency's sight what he would other- 
wise have done under his eyes. He formed the picket, 
placed it under the command of Sheriff Jarvis, marched 
it out, and posted it himself. 



216 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Upon his return, he went directly to Sir Francis, 
reported himself and told what he had done. Sir 
Francis rebuked him angrily, but in milder terms than 
he had expected. 

An hour afterwards, when tidings were brought to 
Sir Francis that the sheriff and his picket had been 
taken prisoners by the rebels, he turned to FitzGibbon 
and reproached him bitterly for his disobedience. But 
the soldier scoffed at the report. The sheriff was no 
fool ; the pickets had been well posted, and directions 
for their guidance too carefully given for such a re- 
sult; and though Sir Francis' wrath was somewhat 
appeased by the arrival of a second rumor that the 
picket had escaped, FitzGibbon was as incredulous 
of it as of the first. When, a short time after, Mr. 
Cameron came from the sheriff to report to the Gov- 
ernor that the enemy had approached the picket, been 
fired upon and fled, leaving several of their men dead 
upon the road, Sir Francis acknowledged, by desisting 
from his reproaches, that FitzGibbon had acted ad- 
visedly. 

A few minutes later, an anonymous letter was 
handed to Sir Francis, warning him that the rebels 
intended to come in before day and set fire to the 
city in several places simultaneously, in the hope of 
distracting its defenders or driving them from their 
positions, especially their stand at the City Hall-, 
where the arms and ammunition were stored. 

It was ascertained the following day that the party 



AN IMPRUDENT ORDER. 217 

driven back by Sheriff Jarvis' picket had been de- 
spatched by the rebel leader for this purpose. 

Alarmed by this letter for the safety of the spare 
arms, Sir Francis gave orders that they should be 
removed to the Parliament Buildings, which, being 
isolated, were less accessible to an incendiary. There 
were no wagons or other means of transport avail- 
able. It was midnight, cold and dark, the roads 
were bad, and the men weary from watching and 
excitement. 

FitzGibbon knew that if Sir Francis Head's plan 
of ordering the men to leave their loaded weapons at 
their posts, shoulder half-a-dozen of the spare un- 
loaded arms and convey them to the Parliament 
House, was carried out, nothing but confusion and 
probable disaster would be the result. Uncertain of 
the loyalty of many of the men armed to defend the 
city, if opportunity arose of helping the rebels ; cer- 
tain that they were surrounded by spies and sym- 
pathizers who would advise their friends of any 
such proceedings, FitzGibbon opposed the Lieut. - 
Governor by every argument and persuasion he could 
think of or advance. 

Sir Francis persisted, and remembering how re- 
cently his orders had been openly disobeyed, he 
appeared the more obstinately determined that this 
one should be executed. FitzGibbon was in despair. 
He continued to remonstrate, assuring Sir Francis 
that if he would allow the arms to remain where 
they were till daylight, he would himself undertake 



218 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

to place reliable men in positions that would enable 
them to keep the rebels at such a distance as would 
ensure their safety, for he apprehended the very worst 
results from such a movement as Sir Francis ordered 
being made in the dark. 

Fortunately at this moment a shout from the street 
announced the arrival of Col. Macnab, with upwards 
of sixty men, from Hamilton. Turning to the Lieut. - 
Governor, FitzGibbon said: "Now, sir, we are safe 
till morning,' for with this reinforcement you can 
guard every approach to any distance from which we 
can be injured." Sir Francis yielded, although Fitz- 
Gibbon had seized upon the arrival more as an argu- 
ment by which he might gain his point, than because 
he thought the additional number made any appre- 
ciable difference in their security from the fire-brands 
of the rebels. 

The remainder of the night passed without dis- 
turbance, and on the following day the arms were 
transferred to the Parliament Buildings. 

During the day (Wednesday) volunteers and militia 
came in from Hamilton and Niagara by water, and 
from the country by the eastern and western roads, 
The city was soon crowded. There was not a sufficient 
commissariat for the moment, supplies were not con- 
veniently available, the householders had to hide 
away their provisions to ensure a bare subsistence for 
themselves, and the danger of a famine was more to 
be dreaded than any attack from the rebels. It be- 
came an imperative necessity to attack them, to defeat 



EXASPERATING DELAY. 210 

their enemies and disperse their friends with the 
least possible delay. 

During the day the Attorney -General met Fitz- 
Gibbon in the corridor of the Parliament House, and 
showed him a militia general order appointing 
Colonel Macnab to the command of the militia in 
the Home District, to which his (FitzGibbon's) name 
was affixed. Indignant at finding his name appended 
to a document he had never before seen, FitzGibbon 
was about to demand, in no measured terms, who had 
dared to act for him ; but reflecting how important it 
was that he should not add to the already great diffi- 
culties which must arise where such a number of men 
and officers from all parts of the country had come 
together, and, without any regular organization, were 
to march against the common foe, he said nothing. 

Night came on and no orders were given by Sir 
Francis for the attack. 

FitzGibbon waited until eight o'clock; then, too 
anxious and impatient to delay longer, he went to 
Government House in search of Sir Francis Head, and 
was told the Lieut. -Governor was at the Archdeacon's. 

On returning to his office he met the Hon. William 
Allan and Mr. Draper. He asked them to go with 
him to Sir Francis and urge an attack being made on 
the following morning. 

After discussing the matter for nearly two hours 
without arriving at any conclusion more definite 
than a promise from Sir Francis that he would give 
orders to attack the rebels on the following day, 



220 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

FitzGibbon rose to leave. Sir Francis had, unknown 
to FitzGibbon, promised Colonel Macnab the command. 
FitzGibbon, naturally concluding that, as Adjutant- 
General and the man upon whom so much had 
devolved, he was in command, could not understand 
His Excellency's hesitation in giving him the neces- 
sary orders. 

Now, although his attention was drawn to it by 
Mr. Allan, the question was still undecided when he 
left to attend to other pressing duties. 

After visiting the pickets and guards FitzGibbon 
went home. He had had no rest since Sunday night. 
Learning that some suspicious-looking people had 
been fired at in the neighborhood of his house, he 
deemed it wiser to return to bis office, where he slept 
until four o'clock on Thursday morning. 

Believing that he should eventually be given the 
command, he spent the first half-hour on awaking 
in drawing a rough memorandum for the attack. As 
it may be interesting to those curious about such 
details to give this roughly-sketched memorandum 
here, I copy it from the original draft. It is written 
<)n coarse foolscap and docketed 

December 7th, 1837. 

ROUGH SKETCH OF DISTRIBUTION FOR THE ATTACK 

THIS MORNING: 
Colonel Macnab. 

Lieutenant Nash 1st Company Advance Guard. 

Coppinge ..2nd " " 

" Garrett.... 3rd " " 

Major Draper: 
Henry Sherwood. 



«( 
(( 



Disposition of the forces. 221 

Two Guns. 

Captain Wm. Jarvis 1st Company Battalion. 

" Campbell 2nd 

" Nation 3rd 

" Taylor 4th " 

Jno. Powell 5th « 

Henry Sherwood 6th ' ' 

Henry Draper 7th ' ' 

Donald Bethune 8th " 

Colonel Samuel McLean Lieutenant Cox to aid. 

Lieut. -Colonel Geo. Duggan. 

Major Jno. Gamble. 

Judge Macaulay. 

Colonel McLean. 

Jones For the left Battalion. 

Jno. Macaulay. 

Captain Macaulay. 

" Durnford. 

Artillery. 

Captain Mathias. 

Major Carfrae. 

Captain Leckie. 

Dragoons. 

Three Companies in front. 

One Gun, Major Carfrae. 
Four Companies : 

The men of Gore, under Colonel Macnab. 

One Gun. 
Four Companies : 

Right flank under Colonel S. Jarvis. 
One Company Men of Scarboro' in the woods with 

Colonel McLean (Allen). 

Left flank under Colonel McLean (Archibald). 
Two Companies under Colonel Jones. 

Whether or not this disposition of the force was 
afterwards adhered to, there is no record among 
FitzGibbon's papers. It may have been altered. 



222 A VETERAN OF 1811 

We find when Sir Francis declined to accept the 
services of Captain Strachan as his aide-de-camp for 
the day, that FitzGibbon sent Henry Sherwood in 
his stead, and asked Captain Strachan to remain near 
him during the attack upon the rebels. 

Trifling as these details appear to us now, they are 
indicative of the antagonism and irritating friction 
between the two men, as well as finger-posts pointing 
out the cause of much misunderstanding. They also 
show the influences under which each acted according 
to his knowledge or characteristics, or was swayed 
by the impulses of the moment. 

The question of who should be given the command 
was still unanswered. FitzGibbon would not ask it 
himself, yet no one else seemed to be moving in the 
matter. While in this uncertainty, Judge Macaulay 
and the Hon. John Macaulay came into his room, 
anxious to learn what were the plans for the day. 
FitzGibbon told them what had passed at the Arch- 
deacon's the previous evening, and asked if they 
would go to Sir Francis, who was sleeping in a room 
near by, and ascertain his wishes. A few minutes 
later, FitzGibbon was sent for. He found Colonel 
Macnab also by Sir Francis' bedside. 

The scene must have been a curious one : the 
dishevelled, half-roused Lieut.-Governor resting on 
his elbow in the camp-bed, the rival commanders on 
either side of him ; the two Macaulays, one of them 
an old comrade and friend of FitzGibbon's early days 
in the country, one who had fought beside him in 



i 



A DRAMATIC SITUATION. 223 

the campaign of 1814, and knew his military abili- 
ties and reputation, standing by, interested spectators 
of the scene. Here, too, was an opportunity for 
the exercise of the Lieut. -Governor's fondness for 
" rounded periods " and " love of epigram."* He did 
not lose it. FitzGibbon says : " He raised himself up 
and said that he ' found himself in a painful position, 
having as rivals before him two officers of equal zeal, 
of equal bravery, and of equal talent, competing for 
the command.' " 

The last comparison roused our hero's indignation. 
Colonel Macnab's pretensions to military knowledge 
or talent were drawn from a cadetship of one year, 
an ensign's commission for less, and no rank at all in 
the militia until after FitzGibbon had held that of 
full colonel. No wonder he stepped back and looked 
at Sir Francis. The situation was dramatic. One 
regrets that some sketch or cartoon of it has not 
come down to us from the pen of one or other of the 
two witnesses. The result of the interview was a 
request from the Lieut.-Governor that FitzGibbon 
and the Macaulays would leave him to settle the 
question with Colonel Macnab. After waiting half an 
hour in the corridor, they were recalled, and told that 
Colonel Macnab had released him from his promise, 
and the command was given to Colonel FitzGibbon. 

Without a single thought or reflection on what 



* Lord Melbourne's speech in the British House of Commons, on 
Sir Francis and the Rebellion. 



224 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

might be the terms of such a surrender, FitzGibbon 
shook hands with Colonel Macnab, and hurried away 
to do what he thought had been already delayed too 
long —to organize the force for the attack. 

FitzGibbon never blamed Colonel Macnab in any 
way for this rivalry, if so it can be called — he 
but did as he was told. The two men were always 
great friends ; Sir Francis' extraordinary behavior 
roused no jealousy nor caused misunderstanding be- 
tween them. Although Colonel Macnab received the 
honor of knighthood at the hands of Her Majesty 
and a sword from the colonists for his share in quell- 
ing the rebellion, FitzGibbon was at the time about 
to be rewarded in a manner more adequate to his 
needs, and the fact that he never received it caused 
no more than a passing comparison with Colonel 
Macnab's better fortune. That Macnab was equally 
generous will be seen later. 

Few whose knowledge of Canadian militia is limited 
to the fine body of well-drilled men forming any of 
our city regiments of to-day, can realize the difficulty 
of forming the militia of 1837 — many of them but 
raw levies from the scattered settlements throughout 
the country — into an effective attacking army. The 
moment the column marched, FitzGibbon's spirits 
rose. He was confident of success — success, too, with- 
out much, if any, attendant bloodshed. He had no 
doubt but the rebels would fly af £er a brief resistance, 
if they stood their ground at all. These expectations 
were, as we know, realized. The rebels fled in haste ; 



KOUT OF THE REBELS. 225 

the attacking force broke their ranks and pursued in 
such disorder that it was little more than one crowd 
running after another. 

Fearing lest the rebels might take advantage of 
the disorder in the ranks of their pursuers and rally, 
FitzGibbon kept well in the advance, that in the 
event of his fear being realized, he might make an 
effort to re-form at least a portion of his men. It was 
not required ; the enemy fled in all directions. Their 
leader, Mackenzie, being very closely pressed, left his 
horse and took to the woods on foot. 

Giving up the pursuit and returning, FitzGibbon 
met a party of about forty men. Asking the officer 
in command where he was bound for, he received the 
reply that they had been ordered to burn Gibson's 
house. Montgomery's was already in flames, having, 
much to FitzGibbon's regret, been set fire to by some 
of the more excited of the loyalists, but Gibson's house, 
being out of the way some two miles, had hitherto 
escaped. 

Believing there must be some mistake, as nothing 
could be gained by such action, the officer repeating 
that he had positive orders, FitzGibbon rode rapidly 
after the now returning main body, in order to ascer- 
tain from Sir Francis if he had given the command. 
Before reaching him he was met by Mr. Sherwood, 
Sir Francis' aide-de-camp, with the intimation that 
" the Lieut.-Governor wished the men recalled who 
were going to burn Gibson's house, as he did not 
wish it burned." Sending Capt. Strachan to overtake 



226 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

the detachment and countermand the obnoxious order, 
FitzGibbon rode on himself to the main body. 

A few minutes later he was called and told that 
His Excellency wished to see him immediately at the 
head of the column. FitzGibbon obeyed the sum- 
mons and to his surprise the order to save Gibson's 
house was countermanded. He endeavored to remon- 
strate, but Sir Francis was obstinate. He laid his 
hand on FitzGibbon's arm as he rode along beside 
him, and repeated, authoritatively : 

" Hear me ; let Gibson's house be burned immedi- 
ately, and let the militia be kept here until it is done." 
Then setting spurs to his horse, he rode on rapidly 
towards town. 

It was late. The men had had a fatiguing day; they 
were cold, weary and hungry. There was no neces- 
sity to keep the entire force waiting while the order 
he so utterly disapproved of was carried out. Fitz- 
Gibbon reigned back his horse until the main body 
had passed, wheeled out the last division, and sent 
them northward. Turning to the field officer, whose 
name he does not give, he bade him take the com- 
mand and see the order executed. 

" For God's sake, Colonel FitzGibbon," the officer 
replied, " do not send me to carry out this order." 

" If you are not willing to obey orders," said the 
colonel, " you had better go home and retire from the 
militia." 

' I am very willing to obey orders, but if I burn 
that house, I shall be shot from behind one of these 



BURNING OF GIBSON S HOUSE. 227 

fences, for I have to come over this road almost every 
day in the week." 

In the meantime the two men were left alone, the 
main body returning to town, the detachment wheeled 
out for the special service on the way north. There 
being no other officer at hand to whom to entrust the 
command of the latter, FitzGibbon determined to 
undertake it himself. 

Sir Francis Head's despatch to the Colonial Office 
December 19th* so misrepresented his action with 
regard to the burning of Gibson's house, that upon 
perusing it in the following April, FitzGibbon wrote 
a clear statement of the truth to Lord Glenelg,f with 
the result that Sir Francis was obliged to append a 
footnote to the page in his " Narrative," acknowledg- 
ing the falsehood contained in his despatch. Curt as 
are the words, " By my especial order," they suffice to 
show how reluctant the writer was to proclaim his 
former statement to be false — to prove that, had there 
been a loop-hole of escape, he would have seized it. 

* ' ' The militia advanced in pursuit of the rebels about four miles 
until they reached the house of one of the principal ringleaders, 
Mr. Gibson, whose residence it would have been impossible to have 
saved, and it was consequently burned to the ground." (Sir Fran- 
cis' Despatch, December 19th, 1837. See Appendix VII.) 

f Although this statement was written on April 17th, and placed 
in Sir George Arthur's hands to be transmitted to Lord Glenelg, 
FitzGibbon was persuaded by his friends to withdraw it ; but upon 
reading a further production of Sir Francis' pen published in May, 
FitzGibbon could no longer withhold his letter. A copy of the 
original will be found in Appendix VIII. 



228 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

FitzGibbon always deplored this act. It was not 
only unnecessary, but impolitic and petty. Had the 
order been given him in private, or before a limited 
number, as other of Sir Francis' commands had been, 
FitzGibbon would have taken the responsibility of 
disobeying it, as he had done before. But an order 
given by a commander-in-chief to his second in com- 
mand, in the hearing of a number of subordinate 
officers, and in the presence of the men, has no alter- 
native : it must be obeyed, however reluctantly. 

The deed was done, the rebel Gibson's house razed 
to the ground, and FitzGibbon returned with the 
detachment to town. Dismissing the men, and ascer- 
taining that the guard at the Buildings had been 
relieved, he turned his steps to his own house. He 
was weary, mentally as well as physically. The rest- 
less excitement and anxiety of the past few days, the 
want of sleep, the irritation and annoyance caused by 
the Lieut.-Governor's behavior, the heart-sick disgust 
he felt at having been forced to do a deed his very soul 
abhorred — one that seemed to him unchristian and 
beneath the dignity of a true British soldier — and the 
long hours in the saddle unheeded during the excite- 
ment, told upon him now that the need for action 
was past. By the time he reached his own door, late 
on that winter evening, he was unable to dismount 
without assistance. 

So bitterly did he feel the treatment he had re- 
ceived at the hands of the Lieut. -Governor, that on 
the following morning, finding himself unable to rise 



RESIGNvS OFFICE. 229 

from his bed, he sent a verbal message to Sir Francis, 
resigning the recently bestowed appointment as 
Adjutant-General. The blow had fallen, the rebel- 
lion he had so persistently and in the face of opposi- 
tion and ridicule prophesied, had broken out, but, 
owing to his foreknowledge, energy and determina- 
tion, had not succeeded. The country was now 
thoroughly roused to a sense of the reality of the 
rebellion, there were men willing and anxious to 
defend their homes and prove their loyalty to the 
British Crown, and his services were no longer indis- 
pensable or necessary. 

" I could not," he writes, " serve the Province ad- 
vantageously to its interests under the immediate 
command of such a man as His Excellency, and I felt 
constrained to resign an office in the Provincial ser- 
vice which, above all others, I desired to hold. Its 
duties were familiar to me, and to their efficient 
performance I could cheerfully have devoted my 
best energies." 

Sir Francis, without one word of regret or enquiry 
of the cause, accepted the resignation, and appointed 
Colonel Macnab to succeed him. 

Ill enough to be confined to the house for several 
days, his youngest child dying, his wife ailing, the 
long coveted position given up, and entirely neglected 
by the Lieut.-Governor, who did not pay him the 
ordinary courtesy of conventional enquiry, we may 
understand something of the soreness and disappoint- 
ment felt by the generous, loyal, enthusiastic heart. 



230 A VhTKRAN OF 1812. 

In 1847 Sir Francis Head's policy in Upper Canada 
was attacked in the Edinburgh Review, the writer, 
in an article of some length, blaming him for disre- 
garding FitzGibbon's advice. 

Sir Francis' reply contained the following state- 
ment, the gross falsehood of which FitzGibbon was 
fortunately able to prove : 

" It is therefore necessary that I should disabuse 
the public by reluctantly stating, what was perfectly 
well known throughout Upper Canada, namely, that 
the gallant militia colonel in question, from excessive 
zeal and loyalty, gradually became so excited that on 
the day after the defeat of the rebels, it was neces- 
sary to place him under medical treatment; that 
during his illness I in vain endeavored by every 
possible act of personal kindness to remove from him 
the strange idea that I was his enemy ; and that, 
although he eventually recovered, this idea continued 
to haunt him so incessantly that when, a year after- 
wards, on his visiting England, I was, from feelings 
of regard, about to call upon him, I was earnestly 
requested by a Canadian, now in Toronto, not to 
do s )." (Letter from Sir Francis Bond Head in the 
London Sun.) 



PUBLIC RECOGNITION. 231 



CHAPTEE X. 

'vjFjHE year 1837 closed in gloom and sorrow for 
reb), FitzGibbon, but the beginning of the new year 
had brighter days in store for him. 

The people saw with regret the way in which he 
had been set aside by Sir Francis. The loyal among 
them knew that to him they owed their escape from 
the rebel designs on the city, and were anxious to 
show their gratitude in some tangible form. 

On January 23rd, 1838, the matter was brought 
up in the House of Assembly, and the following reso- 
lutions passed unanimously : 

" Resolved, — That James FitzGibbon, Esquire, hav- 
ing rendered signal services to this province in a 
military capacity on various occasions, when he was 
a regular officer of the regular forces of the empire 
during the late war with the United States of 
America, and subsequently in several civil capacities, 
and also very recently as Colonel of Militia on the 
breaking out of the rebellion in the Home District, it 
is a duty incumbent on this House to recognize, by 
some public expression, his brave and faithful con- 
duct, and to use such means as may be in its power 
to procure to be granted to him by his sovereign 
some lasting token of the royal bounty, as an 



232 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

acknowledgment of the estimation in which these 
services are held by the people whom it represents. 

" Resolved,— That this House do humbly address 
Her Majesty, praying Her Majesty will be graciously 
pleased to grant to the said James FitzGibbon five 
thousand acres of the waste lands of the Crown in 
this province, as a mark of Her Majesty's royal 
favor, for the honorable, efficient and faithful services 
of that gentleman during a period of twenty-six 

years." 

Upon these resolutions, an address to the Queen 
was passed by the House, and sent to the Legislative 
Council, which House also passed it with only one 
dissenting vote. 

With what feelings of gratitude did the soldier 
receive this spontaneous act on the part of the Legis- 
lature ! He had asked no reward for his services, 
had expected none, had endured his anxieties and 
trials as well as he could, and, although he had felt 
Sir Francis Head's treatment of him keenly and 
resented it indignantly, he had no expectation of 
relief from his troubles reaching him in so gratifying 
a manner. Whatever the Lieut. -Governor thought 
of him, the people were grateful. He forgot all the 
clouds, turned his back on all his troubles; his 
sanguine nature anticipated the sunshine ; he saw his 
debts paid, his children provided for, and himself an 
honored and valued citizen of the place he had done 
his best to save from fire and sword. 

The address was forwarded to the Secretary of 



ADDRESS TO THE QUEEN. 233 

State for the Colonies, accompanied by a letter from 
the Lieut. -Governor, the following copy of which he 
ordered to be sent to FitzGibbon : 

"Upper Canada, Toronto, 

" March 8th, 1838. 

" My Lord, — I have the honor to transmit to your 
Lordship a joint address to the Queen from the 
Legislative Council and House of Assembly of Upper 
Canada, praying that Her Majesty would be gra- 
ciously pleased to grant to James FitzGibbon, 
Esquire, live thousand acres of the waste lands of 
the Province, as a mark of Her Majesty's royal favor 
for the honorable, efficient and able services of that 
gentleman during a period of twenty-six years. 

"I beg leave respectfully, but most earnestly, to 
join in this recommendation, and I can assure your 
Lordship that a braver, a more loyal and devoted 
servant than Cojone FitzGibbon cannot exist in Her 
Majesty's dominions. 

" In time of war as well as in peace, he has admir- 
ably performed his duties, and I am confident that 
the boon which is solicited in his favor by the 
Legislature of this province, would be most gratefully 
acknowledged by Her Majesty's loyal subjects in 
Upper Canada. 

" I have the honor to be, etc., etc., 

"(Signed) Francis Bond Head. 

"To the Lord Glenelg, etc., etc." 

It is difficult to describe the effect of such a 
complete contradiction of his former behavior. The 
over-strained laudation of services he had pre- 

15 



234 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

viously ignored or denied, disgusted the honest- 
hearted soldier. 

Sir Francis was now as civil as he had before been 
uncivil. He professed himself ready and anxious to 
do anything and everything in his power to further 
the wishes of the Assembly, to ensure the address to 
the Queen being received with favor by the Colonial 
Office ; assured FitzGibbon he had always valued his 
services and abilities and had "noticed him "in his 
despatch." He bade him go to the Surveyor-General's 
office and pencil his name on five thousand acres of 
any vacant land he desired, " provided he did not ask 
for town lots." 

These attentions, paid after the two Houses had 
passed the address, are probably the foundations for 
Sir Francis' assertion in his letter in the Sun. A man 
of FitzGibbon 's character was not likely to receive 
such false blandishments with much cordiality. 

On March 12th, FitzGibbon was appointed Judge 
Advocate on the militia general court-martial for the 
trial of alien invaders, or such persons as should be 
brought before it charged with levying war against 
Her Majesty in the Province. 

The court met at the Garrison in Toronto on the 
13th March. FitzGibbon ably discharged the duties 
of his post. At this court-martial General Sutherland, 
the American officer who had been actively engaged 
with the rebels on Navy Island, was arraigned. In a 
volume published by him later, he gives a full account 



SIR FRANCIS HEAD'S RESIGNATION. 235 

of his own trial from his point of view. Among the 
documents quoted is a letter from FitzGibbon in his 
capacity of Judge Advocate. Sutherland took excep- 
tion to his acting as such, but as he did likewise to 
the appointment of the majority of the commission, 
it may be taken for what it was worth. 

At the end of March the Home Government ac- 
cepted Sir Francis Head's resignation, and the even- 
ing before his departure he invited FitzGibbon to 
dine with him. 

Reluctant as he was to accept the invitation, Fitz- 
Gibbon did so. The Lieut.-Governor's evident desire 
to conciliate him and his own naturally forgivino- 
disposition made it seem the right thing to do. 

The only other person present was the Lieut.- 
Governor's private secretary. Again Sir Francis 
reiterated his wish to see the boon asked for in the 
address granted, and he parted with FitzGibbon 
promising to use his best efforts on his behalf upon 
his return to England. 

In May, when his despatch of December 19th, 
1837, was published in Toronto, the "mention made 
of FitzGibbon" in it was greeted by an indignant 
protest from the citizens. 

A public meeting was called and resolutions passed 
by a crowded gathering, embodying their strong 
sense of the injustice done FitzGibbon by the Lieut.- 
Governor. 

Alderman Powell was called to the chair, and in spito 



23G A VETERAN OF 1812. 

of the effort of an enthusiastic gentleman by the name 
of McMillan, who wished the chairman to divide the 
honors of December 7th with the colonel, further 
resolutions were carried, to apply to the Provincial 
Government for a grant of one acre of land within 
the city limits, and that steps should be taken to 
place subscription lists in the banks and other houses 
of public business in order to raise funds to defray 
the cost of building a suitable house for the man to 
whose exertions and forethought the citizens owed 
the preservation of their homes. 

There are very few files of the daily papers of this 
date now extant in our libraries, what there are 
being but odd numbers scattered over several years, 
the fullest being those of the Reform organs. From 
the wholesale abuse and ridicule levelled at Fitz- 
Gibbon, whole columns of these rebel papers being 
devoted to him, the widespread admiration and 
enthusiasm felt for him by the loyal may be more 
truly realized than from the partial praise of friends. 

The assent to the address from the Legislature 
had not been received, and the more cautious of 
FitzGibbon's admirers and friends feared a second 
and more local petition would neutralize the first 
(from those authorized to speak for the Province at 
large), for which reason it was considered advisable 
to drop it. 

In June, the answer was received, and the follow- 
ing letter was sent to FitzGibbon: 



a disappointing message. 237 

" Government House, 

" Toronto, June 23rd, 1838. 

"Sir, — I am directed by the Lieut.-Governor, as it 
is a matter in which you are particularly interested, 
to inform you that he has received a despatch from 
the Right Honorable the Secretary of State, acknow- 
ledging the receipt of the joint address to the Queen 
from the Legislative Council and Assembly of this 
Province, praying that a grant may be made to you 
of five thousand acres of the waste lands of the 
Crown, and stating that on its being laid at the foot 
of the throne, Her Majesty had been pleased to ex- 
press her gratification at the honorable testimony 
borne to your services by both branches of the Pro- 
vincial Legislature. 

" His Lordship adds, that if it should be the pleasure 
of the two Houses to mark their sense of your ser- 
vices by a pecuniary grant, it will afford Her Majesty 
much satisfaction to give her assent to any Act which 
may be passed for that purpose ; but Her Maje ty is 
advised that, consistently with the terms of the recent 
Provincial Act on the subject of the alienation of the 
waste lands of the Crown, and the principles on which 
that Act proceeds, Her Majesty could not make you 
the proposed compensation in the form of a grant of 
land. 

" I have tha honor to be, Sir, 

"Your most obedient, humble servant, 

"John Macaulay. 
" Colonel FitzGibbon, etc., etc." 

Thus the Act passed to put an end to the promis- 
cuous granting of lands — an Act forced through the 
Houses by the clamors of the Reformers — defeated 
the unanimous vote of the same Legislature to reward 



238 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

the man who had been instrumental in putting clown 
the rebellion raised by the principal men among these 
Reformers. 

The joke was a grim one, but it did not lessen the 
severity of FitzGibbon's disappointment. His hopes 
had been so buoyed up by anticipations of release 
from debt and dreams of better days, that the reaction 
was great. But his friends had not given up his 
cause. A bill authorizing the House to legaHze the 
grant passed both Houses. This, it was hoped, would 
receive the ready assent of the Governor-in-Counc'l. 
They were again disappointed, the bill being reserved 
for the consideration of the Crown. 

Fearful lest it should meet with the same fate as 
th^ address, F.tzGibbon was advised to cross the At- 
lantic, and by bringing the influence of such friends 
as he had in London to bear upon the Government, 
ensure it being granted. It was, however, useless. 
The Home Government had had their eyes opened 
to the abuse of privileges by former officials in Upper 
Canada, and they were determined that no more 
Crown lands should be granted to individuals for 
public services. 

FitzGibbon had two interviews with Mr. Labouchere, 
the Under Secretary of State, but without any satis- 
factory result. Reluctant to give up all hope of 
obtaining the consent of the Crown, he lingered on 
in London. I have been unable to ascertain where 
or in what part of the great metropolis he lodged 
during the six months he remained there. The only 



A VISIT TO ENGLAND. 239 

mention of his private life in the letters of that date 
extant is an incidental assertion that he " was very 
hard up, and lived in quiet, cheap lodgings, as inex- 
pensively as possible." 

The letter given below belongs to this time. His 
intercourse with the Brock family had never been 
broken off. The kindly services he had been glad 
to render them in return for their brother's kindness 
to him, were again returned with kindly interest by 
the friendship and affection of Sir Isaac's brothers 
and nephews. Savery Brock, in particular, remained 
a loving friend until death parted them. Among 
the correspondence of FitzGibbon's later years are 
one or two letters, written in the shaking, uncer- 
tain hand of extreme old age, their expressions of 
love and friendship as strong and true as in their 
palmiest days. Nor did the feelings find expression 
only in words. Savery Brock lent his friend money 
without interest until better days dawned, and Fitz- 
Gibbon was able to pay it back in full. Whether 
the visit to Guernsey, mentioned in this letter, was 
paid or not, we have no record : 

" Guernsey, July 1st, 1839. 

" My Dear FitzGibbon, — I have received your 
letter of the 26th ult. The packets, Government 
steamers, leave Weymouth every Wednesday and 
Saturday evening (nine o'clock) for this island, and 
are about seven hours running over. Every Tuesday 
and Friday evening at seven o'clock, from South- 



240 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

ampton, starts a very fine steamer, the Atlanta, that 
makes her passage in ten or eleven hours. 

" On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, 
a steamer quits Southampton at seven o'clock, and 
comes over in twelve hours — all good boats. The 
railroad to Southampton trains quit London every 
day about noon, and reach Southampton in time for 
the steamboats. With these accounts, you cannot be 
at a loss to come over here, and you may be assured 
of a hearty welcome by me. I have a bed for you, 
and nothing can give me more pleasure than seeing 

you. 

" Let me hear from you on receipt of this. I am 
anxious to learn that you have got over your diffi- 
culties. I suggest nothing. You know how parties 
run, and the Ministers will not be sorry to be 
informed on many points by you. They will, I 
think, grant you the land in question. I know they 
ought to do so, for without a few such men as you 
are, they would have no land to grant. 

" I send this to the Colonial Office to hunt you out, 
as you have not given me your address or the address 
of Mr. Price. 

" Yours faithfully, 

"John Savery Brock. 
"Colonel FitzGibbon. 

" Should you come here direct from London, I 
advise you to come by Southampton ; if from Ireland, 
by Bristol, then by Weymouth ; but I know you will 
come and see me." 

Returning to his lodgings after the second fruit- 
less visit to the Colonial Office, FitzGibbon had 
almost given way to despair, when his eye fell upon 



SIR AUGUSTUS D'ESTE. 241 

a letter of introduction given him years before by 
an officer of the Guards (Sir John Eustace), who had 
served with him on the Niagara frontier in 1814. 
The letter, which was a sealed one, had been entirely 
forgotten, and only the overturning of other papers 
in the morning had brought it thus opportunely to 
light. Although FitzGibbon had little hope of this 
letter being of any use to him, he determined to 
deliver it at once. The address took him to a dis- 
tant part of the city, 35 Upper Berkeley Street, 
Portman Square. Sir Augustus d'Este was not at 
home. FitzGibbon left the letter and his card, 
then, having nothing to do, went for a long walk 
across the park into the country to the west of 
London. 

Returning to his lodgings some time after four, he 
was surprised to find his call had been returned at 
two o'clock. Sir Augustus d'Este, not finding him 
in, had left a note expressing his disappointment, 
and a hope that he should be more fortunate the 
following day at the same hour, when he meant to do 
himself the pleasure of calling again. 

From the first hour of their meeting until his 
death, Sir Augustus d'Este was one of FitzGibbon's 
best and most valued friends. He helped him with 
interest, with valuable introductions, and, above all, 
with a devoted love and admiration that found 
expression in long lover-like letters and many a 
kindly service. The dress sword worn by FitzGibbon 
in later years, and showtf in the portrait which forms 



242 A VKTERAN OF 1812. 

the frontispiece to this volume, was given him later 
by Sir Augustus, with the loving words that he hoped 
its having been worn by himself would not lessen its 
value in the eyes of his friend. 

The scabbard is crimson velvet, with the armor of 
various dates in gold raised in relief upon it ; the hilt 
a gold-winged dragon ; the handle ivory, capped by a 
helmet of gold; the blade, which is a scimitar in 
shape, is a beautiful specimen of enamelled steel in 
blue and gold, the designs representing different coats 
of arms and mottoes. The belt is of crimson leather 
embroidered with gold thread, and linked together 
by lions' heads — the buckle an interlaced dragon's 
head of the same metal. The velvet of the scabbard 
is frayed at the edges, proving that it was no mere 
ornament, but had been worn by its noble donor.* 

* Sir Augustus d'Este was the son of H.R.H. Prince Frederick 
Augustus (Duke of Sussex), the sixth son of George III., and the 
Lady Augusta Murray, second daughter of the Earl of Dunmore. 

They were privately married in Rome, on April 4th, 1793, and, 
lest there should be any doubt raised of its legality, though not 
from any apprehension of the first ceremony being insufficient, 
they were again married by banns, in the Parish Church of St. 
George's, Hanover Square, London, on December 6th, 1793. Yet 
a decree afterwards passed the Court of Doctors' Commons declar- 
ing the marriage unlawful and void. This decree separated the 
husband and wife. 

Prince Frederick Augustus, in his' will, dated "Berlin, Septem- 
ber 15th, 1799," expressly declares that " I feel myself still not 
less bound by every obligation of law,' conscience and honor, to 
consider her as my lawful and undoubted wife in every respect, 
as if that decree had never taken place, and that I consider, and 



RETURN TO TORONTO. 243 

FitzGibbon remained in England until nearly the 
close of the year, when he returned to Toronto. 

Soon after the meeting of the last session of the 
last Parliament of Upper Canada, in January, 1840, 
an address was voted by one of the Assemblies pray- 
ing that His Excellency the Governor-General, the 
Right Honorable Charles Poulett Thomson, would 
" be pleased to inform the House if the royal assent 
had been given to the bill passed last session, entitled 
'An Act to enable Her Majesty to make a grant of land 
to James FitzGibbon, Esquire.' : (See Appendix IX.) 
The reply to this address was practically the same as 
to the former, and though further discussion of the 
matter resulted in an Act being passed by both Houses 
to repeal the Act providing for the disposal of public 
lands of the Province so far as to enable Her Majesty 
to consent to the grant to FitzGibbon, it also was 



ever shall acknowledge, our son, Augustus Frederick, who was 
born after both these marriages, as my true, lawful and legitimate 
son." 

In 1830, papers fell into his son's hands which convinced him 
beyond a doubt of the legality of his claims. He was, however, 
unsuccessful in establishing them, and refused to accept any other 
title from the Crown than the simple one of knighthood. He died 
unmarried. His sister, Lady Augusta, married Chief Justice 
Wilde, but left no children. 

Sir Augustus gave FitzGibbon a complete copy of all the docu- 
ments and papers connected with his case. 

The marriage was doubtless annulled on the ground of absence 
of license from the Crown, that, according to the law of Great 
Britain, being necessary. 



214 A VETEilAN OF 1812. 

reserved for Her Majesty's consideration and received 
no further attention. 

The following extract from the debate in the House 
on January 25th, taken from the columns of one of 
the most bitterly antagonistic Radical papers, the 
Toronto Mirror, shows with what feeling the ques- 
tion was discussed. The ed.torial column of the 
same issue, containing some virulent abuse of Fitz- 
Gibbon, leads one to suppose that the report of the 
proceedings in the House would not be more partial 
to his cause than the necessity of the case obliged. 

" Mr. Burwell brought forward a resolution praying 
Her Majesty to grant from the casual and territorial 
revenue to James FitzGibbon, Esquire, £2,500 for 
important services rendered to this province by that 
gentleman. 

"Mr. Boulton opposed the resolution. He respected 
Colonel FitzGibbon, but considering the present state 
of the country and the embarrassed state of our 
finances, he thought £1,000 quite sufficient to com- 
pensate him for any services rendered. A bill passed 
this House granting him five thousand acres, which, 
at four shillings an acre, the price paid by Govern- 
ment for United Empire rights, would amount to 
£1,000. 

"Mr. Burwell believed, under Divine Providence, the 
safety of the country was owing to the gallant colonel, 
But for him the city would have been taken. The 
sum proposed was only equivalent to the land. 

"Mr. Gowan wished to know how the gallant colonel 
had saved the country, before so large a sum should 



DISCUSSION IN THE HOUSE. 245 

be taken from the pockets of the people to reward 
him.* 

" Mr. Thomson said the financial affairs were in a 
very embarrassed state, but at the rate they were 
going on, it would not appear so. He called upon 
the Chairman of Finance to inform the House if 
their affairs were in a flourishing state. He would 
recommend to members to pay their honest debts. 
Sums were advanced by people for the repair of roads 
and bridges, and they were allowed to suffer. 

"Mr. Kearnes reminded them of the poor man who 
asked a bishop for a guinea, which was refused ; he 
then asked him for a crown, which was likewise re- 
fused ; and last of all, he asked for a penny. That 
was also refused. He then asked the humane bishop 
for his blessing. ' Yes,' said the bishop, ' kneel down, 
and I will give it.' Because the blessing cost him 
nothing, he was willing to give it, but he would not 
give the money. The £2,500 proposed would be given 
to the colonel on account of his great and meritorious 
services, and his attention and anxiety when preserv- 
ing the city and the lives and property of the people 
of the Province. There was not a dissenting voice 
against the 5,000 acres of land voted to him, and the 
despatch said he could not get it ; and now they were 
going to remunerate him in money. Would they 
raise a man high in his expectations, and then depress 
him ? Would it be honorable to do so ? He saved 
us from ruin, and £2,500 was very little for his ser- 
vices to the city of Toronto. 

" Mr. Merritt said that at the time the disturbance 



* Mr. Gowan had evidently not forgotten FitzGibbon's address to 
the Orangemen, nor his influence in preventing the processions and 
demonstrations which he (Gowan) had made every effort to revive. 



246 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

took place here, the gallant colonel had preparations 
made quietly, and but for that Mackenzie would have 
been in and taken the town. 

"Mr. Gowan said., if he was to judge of the prepar- 
ations by the event, he could not go with him. It 
was all done by surprise. There were other individuals 
who deserved reward as well as Colonel FitzGibbon 
He thought £1,000 quite sufficient a reward for the 
services performed. Several other persons distin- 
guished themselves in 1837,*and they were not to get 
anything. 

" The Speaker (Colonel Macnab) did not think it 
was generous to make enquiries as to the services 
rendered. A grant was made at a time when his ser- 
vices were fresh in the memory of every member. 
They addressed the Government to give him 5,000 
acres of land, and he was deeply grateful for the con- 
sideration which this House laid on him ; and what 
did they do ? They made good their pledge by pass- 
ing an Act of Parliament, and it passed unanimously 
in both Houses. To that bill the Queen's assent was 
withheld ; but they were told they could make good 
their pledge by an appropriation from the casual and 
territorial revenue. Have they got that sum in the 
casual and territorial revenue ? You may grant it. 
You pledged yourselves, and you cannot retrace your 
steps without disgracing yourselves. It would be 
unjust to hold up this hope, and then cut it off. They 
might give the 5,000 acres, or give a sum of money. 
In the last American war he served his country faith- 
fully. In the late rebellion he commanded the militia 
and he (the Speaker) served under him, and he was 
active and zealous. 

" Mr. Rykert said the House was pledged, and he 
would support the resolution. 



LORD SEATON'S LETTER. 247 

" Mr. Gowan had no objection to the £1,000, as the 
House was pledged. He moved that £ 1 ,000 be granted 
:fco Colonel FitzGibbon in order to compensate him 
[for his meritorious services. 

" Mr. Cook thought he was deserving, but plenty of 
Hand could be had at five shillings an acre. 

" Mr. Kearnes moved the House to rise, report pro- 
gress, and* ask leave to sit again. 

" Mr. Backus said the casual and territorial revenue 
was not yet surrendered ; he hoped some communi- 
cation would be laid before the House upon that 
subject. He was for granting the land. 

"Mr. Thomson said they should be careful how 
they granted money out of the ordinary revenue of 
the Province. 

" Mr. Merritt said it was nonsense to argue about 
the price of U. E. rights. Some land was worth two 
dollars an acre. 

"Mr. Rykert said they should not retract their 
ivote ; they should give a sum equivalent to the land. 

" Committee rose, reported progress, etc., etc." 

This debate called forth a further storm of rage 
and indignation from the Reform press. Part of the 
editorial columns of the paper from which the above 
is taken contained, as has been stated, the most viru- 
lent abuse of the " gallant colonel." 

Lord Seaton interested himself in FitzGibbon's 
behalf, and wrote to Lord John Russell on the sub- 
ject. In the following letter to FitzGibbon he en- 
closed the reply he had received : 

" I acquainted Lord John Russell that I presumed 
he had received a report of your conduct at the time 



248 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

of Mackenzie's menaced attack on Toronto ; that you 
had constantly exercised your influence over your 
countrymen settled in Canada, with great advan- 
tage to the public, and that the local authorities had 
made use of your influence in times of difficulty and 
danger. 

" I regret that my application has not produced a 
more satisfactory result, but I shall have great plea- 
sure in being able to render you any assistance in my 
power. 

" I remain, very faithfully yours, 

" Seaton." 

The letter enclosed was but a repetition of the 
former refusal of the Colonial Secretary to allow the 
alienation of public lands. 

During Lord Sydenham's administration nothing 
was done. The union of the two provinces absorbed 
the attention of the Legislature and the Governor to 
the exclusion of private questions, and though Fitz- 
Gibbon in a private letter, thanking him for the offer 
of an appointment for his son in Quebec, drew His 
Excellency's attention to his case, he felt how small a 
matter his embarrassments were in comparison with 
the larger interests of the Province, and made no 
further effort to obtain redress. 

FitzGibbon's eldest son had given up the business 
post he held in Dublin, and returned to practise at 
the bar in Toronto, bringing with him a cousin who 
had recently been left an orphan. She became as a 
daughter to her uncle, and to her tender care the 



REMOVAL TO KINGSTON. 249 

comfort of FitzGibbon's declining years was largely 
due. 

After the death of his wife, . on March 22nd of 
this year (1841), FitzGibbon removed his family to 
Kingston, that being the next stopping-place of the 
perambulating Government of the day. He was 
there appointed commissioner for administering the 
oath" to members of the Legislature, June 5th, and 
Clerk of the Legislative Council on June 10th. 

The house on Queen Street was left in charge of 
the gardener for a time. There were still five acres 
about it free from mortgage or incumbrance, all that 
remained of the eighteen - acres purchased in 1826. 
Knowing its value, FitzGibbon made every effort to 
retain it. Although deeply in debt, he was willing 
to pay high interest rather than lose this one bit of 
landed property, and from appearances all he was 
ever likely to hold. The house was a good one as 
houses were in those days ; the garden was well kept 
and the fruit and flowers plentiful ; the lawn included 
a bowling alley, which was a source of much pleasure 
to his sons as well as to friends and neighbors. 

Of FitzGibbon's life in Kingston we can glean very 
little. Casual mention of his name in letters, refer- 
ences to him in the local papers, reminiscences of 
pleasant chats and walks with him by the one or two 
of his friends who survive him, and two indifferently 
well executed portraits, are all that we have. 

The portraits have unfortunately been cut down 

16 



250 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

and the name of the artist lost.* We have only a 
shadowy outline of the story of how they came to be 
painted. How or where he found the artist is uncer- 
tain; but, knowing FitzGibbon's kindly interest in 
the poor, who were struggling to earn a living, his 
sympathy in the sufferings of his fellows, and his 
quick observation of whatever crossed his path, as 
well as the ever-present wish to do some little good 
to his neighbor, we can understand how an expression 
of suffering or despair on an intelligent face would 
attract his attention and induce him to follow and 
learn whether a hand might not be stretched out 
to help. 

" I do not know who the artist was," writes his 
daughter-in-law, years afterwards, " but I always 
understood that the colonel found him in a garret 
starving, that he fed him, visited him, and when 
strong enough, found him work, beginning with his 
own portraits, for which he paid seven pounds ten 
each. I believe what the man was able to earn 
through the colonel's influence provided him with 
funds to take him to New York, where he afterwards 
did better and commanded good prices for hi'3 por- 
traits." 

The portraits of FitzGibbon are more than life-size, 
which gives the likeness a startling effect and the 



* From the occurrence of the name Kroebel in the public accounts 
of the Legislature in 1842 to 1845, it is not unlikely that he was 
the artist of FitzGibbon's portrait. 



SIR CHARLES BAGOT's ADVOCACY. 251 

impression that they are coarse representations of the 
original, the crudeness of the drawing giving the face 
an unnatural fulness, and both nose and upper lip a 
greater length than the face of a photograph taken 
twenty years later possesses. 

A lithograph print taken from one of these por- 
traits was published in the Anglo-American Maga- 
zine for September, 1854. The smaller size robs it 
of some of the defects of the painting. FitzGibbon 
found no fault with it. In a letter to his nephew, 
Gerald FitzGibbon, dated January, 1855, he says : 

" I have just received a Canadian magazine from 
Toronto, to which is prefixed a print of my rough old 
face, to my great surprise ; and having in it, also, a 
brief biographical sketch of my military life, but not 
a word of my having saved Toronto, which, however, 
may be reserved for a future number. ... I 
thought I had been entirely forgotten by the provin- 
cials, but it is not quite so." 

Sir Charles Bagot, Lord Sydenham's successor took 
up FitzGibbon's cause with interest, lie read the 
facts from an outsider's point of view, and lost no 
time in drawing the attention of the House to a case 
in which he " considered the colonel an extremely 
ill-used man." As a result, an Order-in-Council was 
made, recommending an issue of land scrip to Fitz- 
Gibbon to the amount of the Government price of 
the land, which he might have procured had the bill 
granting the land received the royal assent. 

Unfortunately, the value of the land scrip at the 



252 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

time this Order-in-Council was made was about half 
what the land was worth. By accepting this way 
out of the difficulty, and being obliged to sell at once, 
the Government would have had to disburse two 
thousand pounds in order that FitzGibbon might 
receive one thousand, the purchaser or speculator 
pocketing the difference. The upset price of the land 
having been fixed by the Government at ten shillings 
an acre, it would be obliged to redeem the scrip at 
that price,, irrespective of the sum received for it by 
FitzGibbon. To this FitzGibbon objected, both for 
his own sake and because it gave an opportunity for 
that which savored of jobbery. 

The session closed, however, without the message 
being sent down to the House. A few days after, 
FitzGibbon met Sir Charles Bagot in his official 
capacity. The Governor took the opportunity to 
express his regret that he had not been able to 
bring the matter to a satisfactory termination for 
FitzGibbon ; he " wished to send the message down 
but had been overruled." 

Sir Augustus d'Este, about this time, drew up a 
short, concise, but clear statement of all that had 
occurred in connection with the business, and had 
taken an opportunity of reading it himself to Lord 
Stanley, then Secretary for the Colonies. He writes 
(in March) : 

" My Dear FitzGibbon,— On the 28th, the last 
day of last month, I was in the chair upon the occa- 



SIR CHARLES METCALFE. 253 

sion of a dinner which was given to Sir Charles 
Metcalfe, previous to his departure, by the Colonial 
Society. After dinner, I requested the favor of being 
allowed to call upon him, which request was readily 
granted, and yesterday, March 1st, I read over to him 
almost the whole of the accompanying statement, 
which had been prepared for and presented to Lord 
Stanley. I also furnished him with a copy of it, 
which he promised to read over during the voyage. 

" When you have read the statement, you will be 
aware of the exact extent of Sir Charles Metcalfe's 
knowledge concerning your services and their con- 
templated acknowledgment by the two Governments. 
Hoping that you will approve both of the statement 
and of the measure of my reading it over to your 
new Governor-General, I shall for the present con- 
clude, renewing the assurance of the sincere regard of, 
" My dear FitzGibbon, 

" Yours most truly, 

"Augustus d'Este." 

When speaking of his friend elsewhere, Fitz- 
Gibbon says : " To him also I was indebted for a 
special introduction to Sir Charles Metcalfe, whose 
conduct towards me during the short remainder of 
his most valuable and exemplary life was extraordi- 
nary even for that extraordinary man." 

The new Governor did, indeed, take a deep interest 
in the soldier and his difficulties. When he found 
the Government would neither pay over the sum 
granted to FitzGibbon, nor advance any portion of it 
to enable him to meet the most pressing of his debts, 
he insisted upon advancing sufficient out of his own 



254 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

pocket, generously doubling the amount named by 
FitzGibbon. 

Lord Metcalfe sent FitzGibbon's memorial to the 
Council, but it went no further, and another session 
passed without any settlement. The resignation of a 
number of the Executive Council necessitated the 
prorogation of the House, and yet another session 
passed without any settlement being reached. Lord 
Metcalfe, however, obtained a report from the Coun- 
cil, which he forwarded, with a favorable recommen- 
dation, to the Colonial Office. (See Appendix X.) 

When the new Parliament assembled in January, 
1845, the matter was again brought to their notice, 
and in March, when the estimates were laid on the 
table, the sum of £1,000 was inserted and recom- 
mended in payment of the long outstanding reward 
for his services, so enthusiastically voted him by the 
unanimous voice of the Assembly in 1838. The 
protracted anxiety and uncertainty, alternate hope 
and despair, so affected FitzGibbon's health, that 
when the seat of Government was removed to Mont- 
real, he applied for leave of absence and remained in 
Kingston. 

Finding the state of his health still unfitted him 
for a faithful discharge of his duties, FitzGibbon 
tendered his resignation in May, 1846. It was not 
accepted at once ; a Committee of the House addressed 
the Governor-General to allow FitzGibbon to retire 
on a pension of three hundred pounds (Canadian 
currency) a year. This was at first refused, but upon 



RETIREMENT FROM PUBLIC OFFICE. 2o5 

a second and third address being presented, stating 
that in consequence of inability of the clerk to per^ 
form his duties, he having produced medical certificates 
to that effect, the office was in danger of becoming 
a sinecure, and the work of the House not being done 
satisfactorily by a substitute, the petition was granted 
and FitzGibbon allowed to retire. Thus in June, 
1846, ended twenty years' service in the Canadian 
Houses of Parliament, and forty-six years of active 
life in the country. 

(Copy of Dr. Widmer's Certificate.) 

" Toronto, April 3rd, 1845. 

" It is now thirty years since I became acquainted 
with Captain FitzGibbon, then in the Glengarry Light 
Infantry. The war with America had then just 
concluded, and the whole community of Upper Can- 
ada, civil and military, was full of applause in regard 
to the conduct of Captain FitzGibbon, during the 
course of the preceding campaigns. 

" It was justly pronounced that his services had 
been of the highest order, and contributed to stamp 
his corps with the character of vigor, vigilance and 
valor. 

" During a long series of years of peace, the same 
qualities which rendered him conspicuous as a military 
man, were productive of an effective and highly 
honorable discharge of the duties of the offices he 
held in civil life. 

" And thus would the useful and faithful course of 
Captain FitzGibbon's career have terminated in civil 
engagements, but for the occurrence of the unnatural 
attempt of the rebels to sever the country from British 



256 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

connection, in 1837. At this crisis the foresight and 
energy of Captain FitzGibbon saved the city of 
Toronto from destruction, and were the means of 
shortening a struggle that might otherwise have been 
protracted. For these services alone, the gratitude 
of the Government is eminently due to Captain Fitz- 
Gibbon. His expectations of a release from pecuniary 
embarrassments have been raised by a vote of the 
Legislature for a grant of land grounded on the high 
value at which it estimated his services during the 
rebellion. These expectations having failed in their 
accomplishment, to my knowledge, has had a power- 
ful effect in destroying the healthy tone of his mind, 
and has rendered him incapable of performing the 
active duties of his office, and almost unfitted him for 
the social intercourse of his friends and acquaintances. 

"(Signed) C. Widmer." 

(Dr. Winder's Certificate.) 

" These are to certify that my knowledge of Colonel 
James FitzGibbon, Chief Clerk of the Honorable the 
Legislative Council, extends over a period of thirty- 
three years. Gifted with a constitution naturally 
good, and of abstemious habits, he has nevertheless 
a temperament highly sanguine and nervous, and this 
acted upon, primarily, by an active life spent in the 
military and civil service of his country, and second- 
arily, by disappointments and distresses of no ordinary 
character, has produced such a state of mental irrita- 
tion, prostration and despondency, and loss of memory, 
as at times to render him quite incapable of the 
efficient discharge of the duties of his very important 
office. In addition to the foregoing circumstances, I 
would observe that Colonel FitzGibbon has nearly 
attained the age of sixty-five years, forty-seven of 



FAILING HEALTH. 257 

which have been honorably passed in the public ser- 
vice ; and advancing age has brought with it an 
increase of physical infirmities, some of them indeed 
of long standing, which greatly add to the causes of 
incapacity above mentioned. 

" On the whole, then, it is my deliberate opinion, 
founded on facts which have come to my knowledge 
from so many years' personal friendship and intimacy 
with Colonel FitzGibbon, that he is, from causes quite 
beyond his control or power of avoidance, physically 
and mentally incapable of further public duty, aod 
that his perseverance in the attempt to perform the 
arduous duties of his present official station, will 
greatly aggravate the constitutional maladies under 
which he now suffers. 

" Given under my name, at Montreal, this fifth day 
of May, 1845. 

" (Signed) William Winder, M.D. 

Thus had the repeated disappointments, hopes de- 
ferred, and accumulation of debts and difficulties 
brought about the very disability to perform his 
luties in 1845 which Sir Francis Bond Head had 
falsely asserted of FitzGibbon in 1837. 



258 A VETERAN OF 1812. 




CHAPTER XI. 

^ITZGIBBON'S second son, William, had been 
appointed Clerk of the County of Hastings in 
1842, and had taken up his residence in 
Belleville, his sister and cousin accompanying him. 
His father, although in Montreal several times during 
the sessions, spent much of the intervening months 
with them. 

The square house in which they lived, with a broad 
verandah round two sides of it, is still standing.* 
It is situated in the low part of the town, near the 
river mouth, known as the Flats, and is not now a 
very healthy locality, owing to the spring floods 
which sweep down the ice and inundate the low-lying 
lands on that side of the Moira. Here, as the 
colonel's health improved, and he was able to take 
exercise again, he astonished his neighbors, and gained 
a character for eccentricity, by his athletic perform- 
ances. 

Club swinging, horizontal bar, and other kindred 
athletic exercises were not so common then as now, 
and the spectacle of a man turned of sixty-live 
years of age, clad in jerseys, swinging himself from 
a bar fixed across the supports of the verandah, 

* The house has been turned about by the force of the spring 
floods, and its outward appearance also much altered. 



ATHLETIC EXERCISES. 259 

doubling himself up into a ball, jumping through 
his hands, or hanging by his feet, drawing his body 
up by sheer strength of muscle, and anon leaping 
over chairs arranged in rows, was quite sufficient to 
obtain him a certificate of insanity from the majority 
of his neighbors. 

" On the bright moonlight nights in the summer, 
the colonel would spend an hour or two taking such 
exercise," writes an old resident of Belleville. " He 
had a splendidly developed muscle and a fine 
physique. A crowd of boys and half-grown lads 
would congregate on and along the fence that 
divided the narrow strip of garden in front from 
the road. It was as entertaining as a circus to them. 
He never saw or took any notice of these spectators, 
but, on the contrary, appeared quite unconscious of 
their presence. When literally dripping from the 
effect of the violence of his exertions, he would wipe 
the drops from his face, and ' thank Providence that 
he lived in a quiet neighborhood.' " 

His brother Gerald, the Master in Chancery in 
Ireland, had lent FitzGibbon £1,000 in 1841. This, 
with the grant voted by the Assembly to him in 1845, 
enabled him to discharge a considerable portion of 
his debts, but the long delay and the unavoidable 
renewal of notes, etc., and other law expenses, had 
increased them to a total far exceeding the original 
sum. Among the letters from Sir Augustus d'Este 
is one which shows that the debts upon which no 
interest was accumulating were the first to be dis- 
charged. After acknowledging the receipt of a bill 



260 A VKTERAN OF 1812. 

of exchange for £100, Sir Augustus says, "with 
which sum it was my happiness to have been able to 
accommodate you at a time when it was useful." 
Th : s, as indeed every other letter FitzGibbon received 
from this kind friend, breathed love and friendship, 
and an admiration that was almost exaggerated in 

expres don. 

Lady Simpson, in a letter to FitzGibbon, then in 
Montreal, December 18th, 1845, while regretting that 
illness prevented his being with them that day, also 
speaks of " the affectionate regard in which you are 
held by our dear and estimable friend, Sir Augustus 
d'Este, whose whole life seems to be one continued 
act of goodness. I have already heard from his own 
lips much of your history, and had with him lamented 
the coldness and ingratitude of those in power, who, 
while Maiming for themselves the merit of putting 
down the rebellion, appear to have forgotten or over- 
looked the one to whose judgment and valor that 
happy event was mainly attributable. 

" The kind heart of your excellent friend can well 
feel for those who have suffered, for cruelly and 
deeply has he been wronged, and much has his noble 
spirit endured, but you are doubtless well acquainted 
with the merits of his own case, and it is therefore 
needless for me to dwell upon a theme which ever 
fills my mind with sorrow and indignation. 

" With our united kind regards, 
" Believe me, my dear sir, 
" Yours very sincerely, 
"Frances K. Simpson." 



RETURN TO ENGLAND. 2C1 

FitzGibbon returned to England early in the year 
1847, but in what part of London he lived until July, 
1849, we cannot ascertain. Lady Seaton addresses a 
letter to him at that date, to 56 Stafford Place, Pim- 
lico, and it is probable he had been there for some 
time. Charles Mackay speaks of him at that time as 
" his friend Colonel FitzGibbon, living for six months 
in London on sixpence a day, fourpence of which was 
spent in bread, one penny for milk, and the remaining 
penny for sugar, and assuring him (Mackay) that he 
never felt so well in his life." 

This story has been repeated many times as an 
illustration of cheap living, some of the variations 
indulged in by the different narrators being widely 
different from the original. 

The pension granted in 1846 was not paid until 
September, 1847, and then only from the beginning 
of that year. FitzGibbon had gone to England in 
June in the confident expectation of receiving the 
first half-year's payment in or by the end of July. 
Its non-arrival left him very short of funds, and he 
wrote to enquire the cause. Calculating the time 
that must elapse before he could receive a reply, he 
counted his cash and found, after paying for his room, 
he had just sixpence a day to live upon, until he 
might reasonably expect to receive a remittance from 
Canada. His success in this extraordinary economy 
was so satisfactory that after the money did reach 
him, he spent most of it in defraying the cost of the 
publication of several tracts and pamphlets on infant 



2G2 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

education, and in helping to further the establish- 
ment of night schools in the poorer parts of London. 

Miss Strickland, who knew him very well at this 
time, speaks of him as " starving himself in order to 
publish some papers or articles he had written on 
infant training." That these papers attracted some 
attention the following letters show : 

"Ambleside, November 11th, 1848. 

" Sir, — I have read your pamphlet and letter with 
great interest ; and I think it will please you to hear 
that they arrived just as I was writing the concluding 
portion of my papers on ' Household Education,' which 
are, I suppose, the papers you have seen of mine. I 
was actually writing upon the 'Power of Habit;' and 
I have taken the liberty of quoting a passage from 
your tract. I knew you would not object, as the 
object of us both is to rouse the minds of parents, in 
every possible way, to see the truth. 

" I am not likely to go to London this winter, but 
I should like to send you my vohime on ' Household 
Education ' when it comes out. I don't know exactly 
when that will be, but it goes to the publisher (Mr. 
Moxon) next week, and it will not be very long 
printing. 

' Unless I hear that you will have left England by 
Xmas, we will say, I will desire Mr. Moxon to forward 
a copy to the same address with this note. 

" Be assured I sympathize warmly with your earn- 
estness in regard to the important subject you have 
treated, and am, Sir, with much respect, yours, 

" H. Martineau." 



elizabeth strickland. 263 

"Buckingham Palace, 

"May 5th, 1849. 

" Miss Murray presents her compliments to Colonel 
FitzGibbon. She was so pleased with the ' Remarks ' 
by 'A Colonist,' which he was very obliging in sending 
to her, that she has taken some pains to penetrate 
through the veil under which the opinions were con- 
cealed. The subject is one which has for a great 
many years attracted the attention of Miss Murray, 
and she is at this moment much engaged in consider- 
ing the best mode of checking juvenile delinquency 
by inducing the Government to take a reformatory 
and educational charge of each child upon their first 
conviction in a court of justice. This would check 
the evil at its very commencement, and totally pre- 
vent the frequent recommitment of young offenders." 

In the following letter from Miss Strickland, whose 
niece had become engaged to FitzGibbon's eldest son, 
a pamphlet from his pen is mentioned, which, I regret 
to say, I have been unable to find in any library or 
public depository of such works : 

" Avenue Lodge, 

" Bayswater, Aug. 6th, 1849. 

"Dear Colonel FitzGibbon, — I have read with 
the strong interest natural to my family connection 
in Canada, your pamphlet received this morning, for 
which I return you my thanks. Nothing can be 
clearer or more concentrated than its composition. 
It is thoroughly readable by an idle person ignorant 
of the subject. Every one of that species of reader 
will be as much charmed as I was at the conduct of 
the Ohio volunteers. But, query, was their most 



261 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

original behavior to their captain caused by his lack 
of governing power, or the impracticability of his 
respectable squadron ? Equal portions of both con- 
tributed to the result, / guess. 

"The business part of your pamphlet appears to me 
a most salutary warning. If our Government will 
not listen to the voices of its veteran officers possess- 
ing experiences both military and civil, they must 
e'en take the result. Perhaps if the warning of 
friends will not be heeded, they will listen to that of 
enemies. The enclosed has, I doubt not, excited some 
alarm in our colonies, although no one seems to have 
noticed it here. 

" As a woman, I feel that my opinion on such mat- 
ters is out of place, and as a historian my thoughts 
seldom dwell on any matter younger than two hun- 
dred years; but I think that the federation you 
propose would become more palatable to the Nova 
Scotians, New Brunswickers, etc., if each colony were 
invited to cause a resident minister to be selected 
from among their own representatives to sit in the 
British Parliament as a referee, to give information 
on any statistic matters under legislation. The con- 
dition that such person must be a Nova Scotian, New 
Brunswicker born, or French-Canadian, etc., would be 
gratefully received, I am sure ; the pride of the col- 
onists would be mightily gratified, the utility would 
counterbalance any trouble, the colonists would tax 
themselves in a trifle of £500 per annum or so, to 
maintain their resident minister, and the situation 
would be a stimulus to obtain English attainments in 
education, and a bond of the strongest nature as to 
the affections of the colonists. I know personally 
something of the Nova Scotians and Newfoundland 
natives, and I know their pride is adverse to the 



FEDERATION FORETOLD. 265 

federation with Canada, but if they were patted and 
soothed as high-blooded horses are tamed, they might 
be led anywhere, provided their nationality be owned." 

On the same sheet of note paper, written the re- 
verse way of the sheet, is the following : 

"Aug. 13th. 

" Dear Colonel FitzGibbon, — 1 am sorry to say 
that I discovered this note unposted, when I thought 
you had had it some time ago. Such is, I am sad to 
own, the fate of many of my epistles. Writing them 
is almost a suffering to me, and when written, some- 
thing I must attend to demands me, and away they 
go among my papers. I own I cannot keep up any- 
thing like a correspondence ; my friends are obliged 
to come and take my epistles viva voce, and agree 
not to think me savage if I do not write. 

" I have, however, written to Lord Aylmer, for I 
owe them a long score of apologies for invitations not 
accepted, not noticed indeed, and calls unreturned; 
therefore I am doing neglected devoirs as well as 
mentioning your work. Will you enclose one with 
Colonel FitzGibbon's compliments to Lord Aylmer, 
and the other to Lady Aylmer, she being literary, 
and he a firm friend to Canada. 

" I am, yours very truly, 

" Elizabeth Strickland. 

« p g — Lord Aylmer is, I am sure, from home, but 
if you enclose my letter with the pamphlet to the 
Eaton Square address, he will receive them in time. 

"I have no objection to receive a quiet visit on 
Sunday. I was at church and dining out with an 
old friend the day you called. I dine out to-morrow 
and Wednesday; on Thursday I shall be glad to 

see you." 
17 



266 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Miss Jane Strickland, the author of " Rome, Regal 
and Republican," and many tales from Roman and 
Eastern history, met FitzGibbon frequently at her 
sister's cottage in Bayswater, and in her beautiful 
old age* was never weary of talking of the charm 
of his conversation, his intense individuality and love 
of humanity. 

" I have told him repeatedly," she said, in speaking 
of this date, " that he should write a history of his 
campaigns ; but no written page could convey the life 
and vim of the relation, a mere body without a spirit 
that gave it such indescribable charm. He was plain, 
decidedly plain, but he carried himself well, was a fine- 
looking man, and the moment he began to talk, all 
else was forgotten." 

Despite Miss Strickland's avowed aversion to letter- 
writing, there are several letters from her among 
FitzGibbon's papers, and of his among hers, which 
betray a mutual admiration and affection for each 
other, expressed in the courteous, dignified language 
of their day. 

Miss Strickland introduced FitzGibbon to Mr. John 
Ollivier, the editor of the Home Circle, a magazine 
then in good circulation in England. Several articles 
and papers from his pen on infant training were 
published in its columns. Ollivier also published a 
pamphlet for him which attracted the attention of 
George Combe, the phrenologist, and the following 

* She lived to be eighty-eight, retaining her faculties and wonder- 
ful memory to the last hour of her life. 



GEORGE COMBE. 267 

letter was the beginning of a pleasant correspondence 
and friendship between the two men. The letter is 
addressed to "A Colonist' 1 (FitzGibbon's nam de 
plume), " to the care of John Ollivier, Esq., 59 Pall 
Mall, London." It is written in a firm, clear, copper- 
plate hand, the lines straight and the words well 
separated — a hand that must have been a pleasure to 
his printers and proof-readers : 

" 45 Melville St., Edinburgh, 

" November 13th, 1848. 

" Sir, — I have read with much pleasure your ' Re- 
marks on the Advantages of Early Training and 
Management of Children,' and admire the spirit in 
which they are written. Apparently, however, you 
have not had an opportunity of learning what has 
been written on the subject of education since you 
left England. Robert Owen taught us so long ago as 
1820, the identical proposition contained in the third 
paragraph of your pamphlet, and tried to realize it 
in practice on a great scale at New Lanark in Scot- 
land, and with only partial success. 

" Having written and published a good deal myself 
on human nature and education, I beg to enclose an 
advertisement of my books, in some of which, par- 
ticularly the ' Constitution of Man,' you will find 
some ideas congenial to your own. 
" I am, Sir, 

" Your very obedient servant, 

"Geo. Combe. 
"To 'A Colonist.'" 

Through Lord Aylmer, Lord Aberdeen, Lord Seaton 
and others interested in Canada and Canadians, and 



268 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

in FitzGibbon personally, he was appointed one of 
the Military Knights of Windsor, Lower Founda- 
tion, on May 20th, 1850, and on January 8th, 1853, 
was removed to the Royal Foundation of the same 
Royal Pension. 

The Military Knights of Windsor were founded by 
Edward III., in the twenty-second year of his reign, 
1348, for the support of twenty-four soldiers, " who 
had distinguished themselves in the wars, and had 
afterwards been reduced to straits." Appointments 
are in the gift of the Crown. Each member is paid 
a small annual stipend, and an allotted residence in 
the walls of the Lower Ward. The only service re- 
quired of them is the attendance of a certain number 
daily at the religious offices in St. George's Chapel, 
where they occupy stalls at the feet of the Knights 
of the Garter. The dress is a long dark blue cloak, 
with a scarlet collar and a Maltese cross of the same 
color on the left shoulder ; a short, straight, two-edged 
sword or rapier with a Maltese cross-shaped hilt and 
a scabbard of dark leather. 

The residence is a cottage interior with low ceilings 
and deep window sills, built in the walls of the 
castle on the right of the main entrance towers. A 
tiny gate-way and narrow path lead to the low door- 
ways which face the beautiful St. George's Chapel, 
where these " poor Knights of Windsor," the original 
designation, pay their daily devoir. 

The installation is a very simple ceremony. After 
the first lesson of the service for the day is read, two 



MILITARY KNIGHTS OF WINDSOR. 269 

knights, the latest installed, go out, and hand in the 
new one. As they enter, all three bow to the altar, 
turn, and bow to the dean ; the new knight is then 
led by the hands and placed in the stall he is hence- 
forth to occupy. 

I will not attempt to depict the beauty of the 
chapel, its lofty grandeur, the exquisite perfection of 
the carving on screen and stalls, the great east win- 
dow, through whose softly-toned tints the light falls 
in such mellowed tenderness ; the historic associations 
of the rich emblazoned banners pendant from the 
rafters above the stalls of the Knights of the Garter ; 
the historic arms and mottoes of those who have left 
their impress on the history of their country recorded 
on the panelled walls; the full notes of the organ 
above the screen, and the clear, sweet voices of the 
chorister boys from away down the long northern 
cloisters, growing clearer and clearer as they approach, 
until the sweet sounds rise above the aisles, and fill 
the grand nave beyond with melody. 

Six of the knights are obliged to attend service 
once a day for a month, except in the case of sickness 
or leave of absence. 

The pension attached to this royal bounty was 
small, only one shilling a day, and upon the appoint- 
ment of a new Knight of the Garter, each military 
knight received a fee of one pound. 

The chief benefit derived from it is a settled resi- 
dence among their compeers, and under the immediate 
protection of the Crown they have served. There is 



270 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

also a certain prestige about the position which helps 
to smooth the rough places made by poverty for 
those who have done their work well, without 
adequate worldly reward— those who, in the common 
language of the times, have " seen better days." 

Here they have congenial society, the quiet which 
old age seeks, coupled with the advantage of keeping 
in touch with the questions stirring men's minds ; out 
of the tumult and strife, but within the circles of the 
echoes roused by the advance of science, literature 
and art ; within reach of the tidings from the political 
world, and in the time of war, of the latest news 
from the army. 

Can we not picture their excitement and interest 
in the tidings from the Crimea ? 

What unedited accounts of bygone battles fought 
and won, of retreats well conducted when the day 
had gone against them, of marches made, deeds of 
daring done, hardships endured, could the walls of 
the knights' quarters tell ? How often the " only 
course " left for the men in command was laid down, 
argued over, and emphatically advocated by the 
knights as they paced the ramparts in friendly con- 
verse after service. 

How every appointment was canvassed and com- 
mented upon, each bringing his knowledge of the 
name or man to bear upon the approval or disapproval 
of the " action at headquarters." ■ How they rejoiced 
when a favorite or familiar regiment, or name which 
represented " one of the youngsters " of their day, 



FAVORITE WALKS. 271 

was mentioned in the despatches, and grieved over 
the untimely fall of those who had shown promise of 
ability in their profession. 

Can we not realize how each knight represented 
his own old corps among them, and received the con- 
gratulations or condolences of his fellow-knights as 
its representative ? 

FitzGibbon was an early riser now as ever, and an 
excellent pedestrian. A favorite walk was to Frog- 
more, then the residence of the Duchess of Kent. Sir 
George Cooper, Her Royal Highness' secretary, whom 
FitzGibbon had known well in Canada, had obtained 
him the privileged entree to the park and gardens. 

FitzGibbon was never weary of this beautiful 
place, and went there frequently for the pleasure of 
sitting under the trees and walking over the perfectly- 
kept sward. It was also a show-place, to which he 
took his friends and visitors. His sister, Mrs. Wash- 
burn, who spent some weeks with him in the summer 
of 1851, speaks of going to Frogmore with her 
brother, of the loveliness of the park, and the " deli- 
cious feel of the velvety grass which made it such a 
pleasure to walk upon." 

Another long and favorite constitutional was down 
the Long Walk to the statue at the end, a distance of 
three miles, or in the Lower Park towards Ditcham 
and back. 

The great Exhibition of this year brought many 
colonists to London, and many of his old Canadian 
friends found their way to the knight's quarters — 



2?2 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

some glad of the opportunity of seeing him again, 
others, on sight-seeing intent, very willing to visit 
Windsor Castle and an old acquaintance at the same 

time. 

The Baroness de Longueuil was among the former. 
She had written a warmly expressed letter of congra- 
tulation to FitzGibbon upon his appointment, and Her 
Majesty's kindness to his daughter,* and now took 
advantage of being within easy access of London to 
visit her old friend. 

Several of his former brother officers, whom he had 
not seen for years, but whose friendship he had re- 
tained through all the changes and chances of their 
lives, also came to see him. 

Among these, Captain Brackenbury, of the 49th, 
one of the tutors of his barrack-room university (see 
page 50), was one of the most welcome. They had 
not met since they were young men in Canada. The 
afternoon spent together was all too short in which 
to recall the old days and their recollections, or tell 
of all that had happened to either during the inter- 
vening years. The intercourse thus renewed was 
never again broken off. 

He had also other visitors about whose names still 
lingers more or less of interest. Miss Agnes Strick- 
land, accompanied by the artist, Melville, and her 

* I regret much that I have been unable to ascertain the parti- 
cular nature of Her Majesty's kindness, but the reference to it in 
the Baroness de Longueuil's letter is evidence of the soldier's grati- 
tude to his sovereign. 



AGNES STRICKLAND. 273 

publisher, Col burn, when on a visit to the Castle in 
order to have one of the portraits there copied for 
her " Lives of the Queens of England," spent the even- 
ing at No. 9 ; the Rev. H. Hawtree ; Major Clarke ; 
I. Kitterminster, who writes in glowing eulogy of the 
happy hours spent in " the quiet, snug room in the 
Castle, while the brave old man swung to and fro in 
his Yankee chair, relating scenes of bygone days, 
living life over again in all its delights, forgetting 
the sorrows that attended them ; " of the " stroll on 
the ramparts watching the sun go down in a blaze 
of glory ; " their " walks by the river-side, exchang- 
ing thoughts of this and other worlds ; ' : of the 
"beauty of the landscape dressed in all the pride 
of spring," " the song of the lark and murmur of the 
river," accompaniments of their " fondly remembered 
intercourse." 

Other friends, unable to come to Windsor, invited 
FitzGibbon to dine with them in London.* These 
invitations, however, were generally declined, and the 
alternative of breakfasting with them offered. He 
preferred going up early to returning late, or incur- 
ring the expense or inconvenience of remaining all 
night at an hotel. 

He had been elected a member of the Highland 
Society of London in 1842, and always received a 
card for the annual dinner held in the Freemason's 
Tavern, Great Queen Street, on March 22nd, in com- 

* Among these was Sir Allan Macnab. 



274 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

memoration of the battle of Alexandria, but even this 
invitation was only once accepted. 

He had also been admitted as a Royal Arch Mason, 
Ionic Chapter, Toronto, on January 12th, 1848, and to 
the Supreme Grand Chapter of London, England, on 
August 6th, 1850 ; and though there is no note among 
his papers of his attending the lodge meeting in 
London, the position in the craft gave him additional 
means of influence, and enlarged his opportunities of 
making himself heard when occasion required it, or 
when his advocacy could be used to benefit others. 

FitzGibbon went several times to town to the 
Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, going up by an early 
train and returning in time for dinner at seven, meet- 
ing many friends and calling upon others. Such a 
day is briefly described by his sister, who went with 
him on September 10th : 

" Up to London by the 9.02 train ; walked to Miss 
Strickland's from Paddington. Miss S. had a small 
cottage and garden at Bayswater. She showed us 
the largest apples I ever saw, that had grown on her 
trees. Took a biscuit and glass of wine. Miss S. 
showed us out a short way. We walked to the 
Crystal Palace through the park, a most pleasant and 
not a long walk. We entered the Palace at half-past 
eleven, and stayed there until three. Met Egerton 
Baines from Toronto, who told us his mother was in 
town. Although we were pretty well tired, we walked 
to Brompton Row (could get no conveyance) to Lady 



DEBTS DISCHARGED. 275 

Barkley's. She had asked us to stay a few days with 
her, but we could not. We stayed nearly an hour, 
then took an omnibus to Regent's Circus, where we 
intended to take another to Paddington Terminus, 
but we were too late ; the omnibus had just left, and 
there would not be another for an hour. Took a cab, 
and got in in time for the half -past five train, and 
home by half-past six." 

The first years spent at Windsor were, however, 
years of real privation and poverty. Small as his 
income was, FitzGibbon devoted the larger portion of 
it to the payment of his debts, reserving only what 
was barely sufficient for actual subsistence. There 
are letters extant from friends, some of them of rank, 
breathing friendship and affection for him ; and while 
at the same time acknowledging the receipt of various 
sums they had induced him to accept as loans during 
the trying time between 1838 and 1845, reproaching 
him for being in such haste to draw upon his so lately 
augmented but still narrow means. 

His daughter and niece, who, with his son William, 
joined him in England in 1850, shared his privations, 
seconding his laudable ambition and enabling him to 
realize it. 

His brother Gerald was soon his only remaining 
creditor, and with the exception of the last sixty 
pounds due, the thousand pounds lent by him in 
1841, principal and interest, was paid in full before 
FitzGibV i's death. This sixty pounds was gener- 



276 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

ously forgiven him by his brother at a time when the 
approach of the infirmities of age rendered him so 
anxious lest he should die in debt, that the fear 
affected his health injuriously. 

These years brought other and greater griefs in 
their train. His son William's health had been fail- 
ing for some time. The sea voyage and change had 
not the beneficial effects they had hoped for. He 
returned to Canada early in the autumn, and died at 
Belleville, in October, 1851. FitzGibbon felt this loss 
keenly, but another and a greater blow was soon to 
fall upon the brave old man. His daughter Mary, 
the dearest companion of his life, was slowly dying, 
although as yet her father's eyes could not see it. 

In March, 1852, he writes to Miss Strickland of a 
visit from an old brother lieutenant, " one of my old 
corps, the 49 th, who sold out in 1810, and returned to 
England to the study and practice of medicine. So 
strong does his friendship for me continue that he has 
taken upon him the management of my Mary's health, 
and came here to study her case for a few days." 

Dr. Anderson ordered her to drink goat's milk, and 
later on FitzGibbon writes : " Every alternate day I 
walk about six miles out and home to bring to Mary 
a soda water bottle of goat's milk from the beautiful 
Cashmere goats belonging to Prince Albert, on one of 
the farms in the Park." 

His youngest son, James, died in 1852. After hav- 
ing served but a few years in the 24th Regiment, he 



KINDLY LETTERS. 277 

sold his commission and returned to Canada to devote 
himself to the study of the law. He practised in 
Belleville, Ontario, and stories are still extant there 
of his wit and eloquence at the Bar. 

Mary did not long survive her brother, and the 
year closed in sorrow for the bereaved father. 

There are several letters of this date from his old 
friends and brother officers, full of kindly friendship 
and sympathy. In one of these, from Captain Brack- 
enbury, a remarkable dream is referred to, which 
dream had at the time so comforting an influence on 
FitzGibbon's mind that he had it printed, in the hope 
that it might benefit others. 

" In my dream I fancied myself standing in front 
of a golden column, brightly burnished, in which I 
saw my own face most clearly reflected. Delighted 
with the brilliant appearance of all around me, I gazed 
intently upon the reflected face, and soon it appeared 
to expand, to be enlarged, to become more expressive, 
beautiful, sublime, beyond all I had ever imagined of 
the human face. Filled with a delight beyond all 
power of language to express, it flashed upon my 
mind that I was in heaven. The first impulse was 
that I should prostrate myself in profound gratitude 
to the Almighty for having created me for such a 
blissful destiny. I vividly remembered the Scripture 
which says, ' Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
hath it entered into the heart of man, the things 
which God hath prepared for them that love Him ; ' 



278 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

and here I felt that it was more than realized to me, 
and the crowning joy of it all was that it would 
never end. My mind became, as it were, expanded 
to a vast extent, looking into eternity with mental 
power never before imagined by me, and with an 
awful impression of its boundless, its infinite extent. 

" In the midst of these ineffable thoughts my mind 
was suddenly turned to earth, and there I saw my 
wife lying on a sick bed, with her five children in 
tears standing around it. Here then was the very 
state of sorrow and suffering I had so often in imagi- 
nation dreaded. Yet my happiness was not in the 
least affected by it. Before this dream I could not 
have conceived how this insensibility to their suffer- 
ing could be, but now I clearly comprehended why I 
was not so affected. I mentally exclaimed : ' Oh, it 
matters not, they will be here immediately;' and 
whether the intermediate time were five years, or 
fifty years, or five hundred years, did not then appear 
to me worth an anxious thought, so brief did all time 
appear to me compared to the eternity which then 
appeared before me. 

" And so, in truth, it really is to a mind expanded 
as my mind then was. And this comparison and the 
consideration of it now appear to me as fraught with 
a consolation to suffering minds here on earth, which 
no other consideration is at all equally calculated to 
give. And, therefore, while my mind is thus so in- 
tensely and blissfully impressed, do I hasten to record 



A REMARKABLE DREAM. 279 

this vision, before it fades from my memory in the 
slightest degree. 

" Now, I trust I shall not be thought superstitious by 
anyone to whom I may communicate what I have here 
written. I am delighted with the dream, because it 
proves to me that even in this life I possess a capacity 
for enjoyment of blissful happiness of which before 
now I had no adequate idea, and because it convinces 
me that in heaven no consideration of things on earth 
can diminish my happiness there. And here I take 
for granted that the Almighty has in like manner 
endowed every human being with latent capacities 
for increased happiness, whenever in His merciful 
will He pleases thus to exercise those capacities. 

" Thus a new field for thought appears to be opened 
up before me, in which my mind may be further 
improved, and I be enabled to increase its powers and 
enhance its happiness. Now, more plainly than ever 
heretofore, do I understand and feel that man is a 
progressive being, and that it is his duty to avail 
himself of every circumstance, occurrence, or means 
which may enable him to advance himself in useful- 
ness, in virtue, and piety ; and with the view, espe- 
cially, of further enabling him to do good to his 
neighbor. 

" Anyone, at the hour of death, leaving behind 
wife, children, or other beloved relatives, exposed to 
poverty, sorrow, or other suffering, having such an 
absolute conviction of mind as I then had, of the 



280 A VETEKAN OF 1812. 

shortness of all things of time here on earth, as com- 
pared with eternity, must surely, under such convic- 
tion, be nearly, if not altogether, relieved from much 
mental suffering, and enabled to depart in compara- 
tive peace, and even with hope and joy and confidence 
in the goodness of God. 

" That this account of my dream may occasionally 
soothe and cheer the anxious spirits of persons so 
circumstanced, I humbly hope and fervently pray. 

" Amicus." 



ENERGETIC OLD AGE. 281 



CHAPTEE XII. 



^IF^ITZGIBBOlSr was never idle. His old energy 
^El and anxiety to be of use to someone — to do 
what little good might be within his power — 
never flagged. He read all the papers with avidity, 
making notes of interesting items, clipping para- 
graphs containing information suitable for the accep- 
tance of some of his youthful correspondents among 
his nephews and friends ; occasionally, where a remi- 
niscence of his own was apropos, replying to or 
writing articles for the press, military matters espe- 
cially attracting his attention. 

The following is, perhaps, as apt an illustration of 
this interest and the " grist he sent to the mill " as 
anything among his papers : 

" Monday, November 22nd, 1852. 

" Sir, — In the supplement to the Weekly Despatch 
of yesterday, I have just read the following words : 
' And never let us forget to honor and care for the 
' humblest soldier who has done his part of the great 
' task in the faithful spirit of his chief. The indivi- 
' dual honors cannot be his, and he knows it. He is 
' proud to see decorations on the breasts of his officers, 
' they are tributes to his valor ; his bayonet helped 
'to win them; his discipline, his firmness held the 
' ground ; his energy was in the last decisive charge.' 
I cannot withhold from you the statement of a simple 
18 



282 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

fact which, I think, beautifully illustrates the truth of 
your hypothesis. 

" The battle of Queenston, in Upper Canada, was 
fought on the 13th of October, 1812. Captain Dennis, 
of the Grenadier Company of the 49th Regiment, 
commanded the post at the beginning of the battle, 
and for about an hour afterwards. Major-General 
Brock arrived from Niagara, and was killed, and 
Captain Dennis was wounded, but he still kept the 
field. The invaders were all killed or taken prisoners ; 
among the latter was Lieut.-Colonel Scott, the present 
Commander-in-Chief of the American Army. 

" In three months after, a general order was read 
at the head of that grenadier company, which pro- 
moted Captain Dennis to the brevet of Major. 

" On the company being dismissed, one of the 
soldiers tossed his musket high above his head, and 
cried aloud, ' Hurrah, boys, we have done something 
for the old Roman at last ! ' 

" That Captain Dennis is the present Major-General 
Sir James B. Dennis. Because of his zeal and his 
daring in battle, his soldiers usually called him ' the 
old Roman.' 

" The tribute you have paid to the memory of the 
Duke and to the army, and especially to the privates 
of that army, is most gratifying to me, having been 
once a private soldier myself, and I am most grateful 
to you for it. I wish every soldier in the army had 
a copy of it. The study of it would add to his just 
pride, would increase his devotion to the service and 
nerve his hand in the day of battle. 

" May I request of you to give this effusion a place 
in a future number of your journal. 

" I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 

" An old Grenadier of the last Century." 



a sailor's "pen yarn." 283 

The mention of an old comrade would again lead 
to a renewal of intercourse or letter of enquiry. 

The following is a reply so evidently characteristic 
that we give it. The top of the page has unfortu- 
nately been mutilated by some enthusiastic collector 
of crests for the impression of the coat of arms : 

" I am, indeed, my dear sir, the same Tom Mansel 
who shared with yourself the glory of victory at 
Nelson's ever-memorable battle of Copenhagen, but 
certainly not possessing the youthful bearing which 
then animated my aspiring spirit, as both body and 
mind are fearfully, in the present stage of progressive 
old age, fast approaching the lee-shore of beam-end 
position, yet I endeavor to preserve an even keel as 
long as remains a shot in the locker to keep off the 
ennui of natural infirmities. As I intend, in the course 
of a short time, to clinch the tow-rope of pleasure by 
hailing your snuggery at Windsor Castle, I there- 
fore cut my pen yarn short, and will spin one as long 
as the main top bowling when we meet to talk in 
good earnest, and fight our battles of glorious record 
o'er and o'er again. 

" Believe me to be, 

" My old comrade and friend, 
" Yours very faithfully, 

"Tom Mansel. 

"P.S. — If you happen to visit the gallant Naval 
Knights of Windsor, will you kindly convey my 
royal mast-high regards to Lieut. Henslow, who 
served under my command some years gone by ; a 
gentlemanly, exemplary officer thus I held him in 
estimation, and no mistake," 



284 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

His correspondence with George Combe led to an 
enthusiastic study of phrenology. He was a firm 
advocate and believer in the science, and in many of 
his letters speaks highly of its influence for greater 
contentment and increase of hope in the future 
improvement and development of good in humanity. 

He was also a great reader, and many of his letters 
of this date contain his opinions and impressions of 
the books he was at the time perusing. In July, 
1857, during the mutiny in India, he refers to the 
life of Sir Charles Napier as "the most exciting 
work I have ever read." 

He understood the antagonism of the directors of 
the East India Company to Sir Charles Napier's 
measures. Sir Charles' difficulties were a more 
extensive reproduction of his own in Canada prior to 
the rebellion. He believed that had Sir Charles 
"been duly supported, the present mutiny would 
never have occurred. For years he had warned the 
Indian Government of their danger. He had pre- 
vented mutinies, and pointed out clearly how to 
govern all safely and well, but as his counsel in- 
volved changes in the civil departments, which affected 
the vast abuses of patronage, he was treated as an 
intolerable nuisance, and driven from the country. 

« Were it not for the destruction and ruin conse- 
quent upon this mutiny, I would rejoice at it. Never 
have men so well deserved disaster and punishment 
as these directors." 

He paid one or two visits to Dublin before the year 



NIGHT SCHOOLS. 285 

1855, but though he made many plans and promises 
to repeat them later — promises which he was, how- 
ever, careful to speak of as " conditional only " — he 
was unable to fulfil them. He valued and loved his 
sister-in-law (wife of his brother Gerald) highly, and 
his letters are full of kindly, grateful reminiscences 
of her hospitality and affection for him. It is to her 
care of his correspondence we are chiefly indebted 
for the details necessary for the last chapter of our 
veteran's life. 

The night schools and classes established in the 
town of Windsor were also of great interest to Fitz- 
Gibbon. He frequently addressed the boys, and 
while entertaining them with graphically depicted 
accounts of incidents in his own experience, anecdotes 
of men and soldiers he had known, he drove home 
many a lesson and maxim of value. He never lost 
an opportunity of impressing upon them the desira- 
bility of cultivating truth, sobriety, courtesy and 
kindness to the least of God's creatures. He noted 
everyday incidents in the streets, trifles which others 
passed by unheeded, and turned them to account in 
his friendly talks with the boys. 

He was always ready to drill a score of ragamuf- 
fins, and halfpennies never stayed long in his pockets 
when others' need seemed to demand their expendi- 
ture. 

During the last few years of his life, while still 
able to go up to town for the day, it became necessary 
to see that he had a return ticket on the railway; 



286 A VETERAN OF 1811 

otherwise his soft heart for a hungry lad or sym- 
pathy for a doleful tale of want would have left him 
without the means to pay his fare back. 

He was repeatedly called upon by the Dean to act 
as trustee for the widow or orphan daughter of a 
deceased brother knight, or for advice and assistance 
in preparing pension papers and arranging their 
affairs. 

Although he corresponded with many friends in 
Canada during these first few years of his life at 
Windsor, none of his letters has come within my reach 
except the following to the late Mr. Walter Mackenzie, 
of Castle Frank, Toronto. He had been one of Fitz- 
Gibbon's rifle corps organized previous to the rebellion 
of 1837, and ever remained one of his most devoted 
friends and admirers. In this letter a strong love for 
Canada is expressed, and one cannot but regret that 
his version of the history of the war of 1812 was not 
written for the benefit of those now so deeply inter- 
ested in that little known period of Canadian history. 

"Lower Ward, 
"Windsor Castle, May 10th, 1855. 

" My Dear Mr. Mackenzie, — I must begin this 
answer to your interesting letter of the 14th ultimo, 
by making an admission, or more properly a confes- 
sion, that I really am unequal to making it an ade- 
quate return to your epistle. Your idea that the 
' Celt being especially distinguishable from the Saxon 
by retaining the fire of youth amid the snows of 
winter's age/ is no longer fairly to be entertained by 



LETTER TO WALTER MACKENZIE. 28? 

me. It is true that my physical condition is now far 
better than ever hitherto I could have hoped for. I 
can jump and dance with as light and elastic a bound 
as at any period during the last forty years, and 
certainly more so than during any period of the last 
ten years. But I cannot say so much for the mental 
energy. Would that I could guide, aid or forward in 
any way your efforts in the cause of Canadian ad- 
vancement, either historically, politically or socially. 
In fact, my desire is so strong in this direction that it 
requires an effort to make me refrain from making 
you an offer of help wherever you may think I could 
render it. But in justice to you I dare not. The only 
way in which I can concoct anything like an adequate 
answer to yours is to go over it paragraph by para- 
graph and say something to each. 

" Should Dr. Widmer not have left Toronto before 
you receive this, pray charge him from me to come 
to Windsor, which he can do in less than an hour by 
rail, or if he cannot from any cause, that he will 
write me to come to him. I think the meeting would 
make us both a year younger. 

" Our ' tilt ' with the Dean and Canons is now fully 
in the lists before the Chancellor. Whether we, like 
the slender Ivanhoe, shall roll their Reverences in the 
dust, as he rolled the brawny Bois de Guilbert, time 
alone can tell. Your letter shows me that we have 
the good wishes of one honest heart. The gentlemen 
of the long robe are now actively employed in pre- 
paring questions and answers, replies and rejoinders, 
and all the usual prolonged fence of such gladiators. 
The last note to me, as chairman of the Knights' 
Committee, from our chief champion, is very encour- 
aging. Still I will not indulge in much hope, and I 
am pursuing my own course without any reference to 
aid from that quarter. If it come, tant mieux. 



288 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

" For the honor and prosperity of old England, I 
grieve to see its clergy so grasping, and avaricious. 
No class of this nation is doing so much injury to the 
public mind, and it pains me to learn that a like 
spirit is manifesting itself in your thriving province. 

" I have not a copy left of the letter you mention. 
I believe it was the substance of a paper I wrote at 
the request of Lord Seaton, in 1849, and which I had 
soon after printed in London. I have been sometimes 
urged to give my version of the war of 1812, but I 
could not reconcile myself to do so ; because, if I did, 
I could not refrain from telling all the truth, and this 
would expose to public blame, if not shame, some I 
would fain not wound. But at this long distance of 
time I might say much without reluctance which then 
I would decline. Therefore, should you ever enter 
upon a sketch of Canadian chronicles, and would call 
on me for an account of any single occurrence or 
series of events known to me, I could give you de- 
tached sketches, some of which may help to fill up or 
amplify a narrative for you. 

" It is interesting to me to learn that you went to 
Sir Francis Head, with Judge McLean, to urge him 
to attack the rebels on Tuesday morning, because I 
also went to him soon after sunrise and entreated of 
him to give me three hundred out of the five hundred 
then armed in the Market Square, and with the only 
6-pounder then brought from the garrison, I pro- 
mised in two hours to disperse the rebels. His 
hurried answer was, ' Oh, no, sir, I will not fight them 
on their ground; they must fight me on mine.' I 
could not help mentally exclaiming, 'What an old 
woman I have here to deal with ! ' (Perhaps you 
have a copy of a pamphlet which I had printed and 
published in Montreal in 1847, 'An Appeal to the 
People of Upper Canada;' if you have not, pray 



REMINISCENCES OF THE REBELLION. 2S9 

obtain one if you can ; I suppose Rowsell may yet 
have some unsold.) At that moment I considered it 
of the highest importance to disperse them with the 
least possible delay, that the news of their defeat 
should accompany, if not precede, the news of the 
outbreak, and thereby paralyze and confound all 
other disloyal men in the Province before they could 
act in concert; and had the rebels the presence of 
mind and the daring which their first steps indicated, 
the Upper Province might have fallen under their 
power. The steps taken by you and me and our 
other few friends, such as the shooting of Anderson 
by Powell and the ringing of the city bells on Mon- 
day night, gave the first check. 

" As to the Navy Island campaign, it was disgrace- 
ful to us. The rebels and sympathizers were on the 
island like rats in a trap, and the moment the detach- 
ment of the 24th joined at Chippewa, an attack should 
have been made. Elmsley had boats enough, and a 
descent upon the island was easy and certain to suc- 
ceed. But there was no will and therefore no way. 
So far from thinking you not the fit person to record 
the events of that outbreak, I know no man who 
knows more of its details, or observed them with so 
earnest a zeal and spirit as you did — no, not one. 

* " And here I must break off to attend the summons 
of Margaret to tea — as you broke off to attend the 
summons to ' tax costs/ 

" What you say as to your lack of love for your 
profession brings vividly to my remembrance the 
case of the only son of old Col. James Green, long 
secretary to Lieut.-General Peter Hunter, once Lieut. - 
Governor of Upper Canada. He desired above all 
things to go into the army, but his father sent him 
to Oxford, to be educated for the Bar. He was called 
to the Bar in Lower Canada, and took up his post, 



290 A VETERAN OF i812. 

not of exercise, but of practice, in Three Rivers. The 
headquarters of the 49th were then there, in 1810, 
and young Green told me that when in Portsmouth, 
England, on his return to Canada, he was on the 
point of enlisting as a private soldier, which, how- 
ever, he did not, but returned to Canada. We invited 
him to become an honorary member of our Mess, 
where I became most intimate with him. His life 
became a most unhappy one, and although he became 
Clerk of the Peace at Quebec, he died early, as I 
believe, of something like a broken heart, He was a 
high-minded, noble and generous young man. (Mrs. 
Grasett is his daughter, or other relative of his.) 

"But surrounded by such ' specimens of humanity ' 
as you mention, you must cultivate cheerfulness, self- 
confidence and perseverance for their sakes, and not 
sink, nor even bend, beneath the burden of mortified 
feelings or disappointed hopes. For Mrs. Mackenzie's 
sake and their sakes, cheer up and cherish a manly 
pride and a lofty resolution to meet and surmount 
every obstacle to a final success and independence. 

" I would gladly see you employ such spare time 
as you can command in literary exercises which may 
be most agreeable to you. I dream of preparing 
some essays for the guidance of the young in Canada 
in the exercise of their social and political duties* 
adding now and then a few hints on the parable of 
the Good Samaritan, with special reference to my 
discordant countrymen, the Orangemen, and their ad- 
versaries, the Romanists, who mutually dishonor our 
common Christianity by their almost total want of 
the great Christian virtue, charity. From time to 
time I fear much for the future harmony and pros- 
perity of Canada. 

" But I find my firmness of purpose becoming, day 
by day, less firm, or rather more feeble. It just 



THE CRIMEAN WAR. 291 

occurs to me that if I were near you I would give 
you leave to exercise authority over me, which, if 
sternly exercised by you, might produce some fruit ; 
for I really have the needful health and physical 
strength, and lack only the strong will to bring all 
into active operation. 

"The first Anglo-American magazine you sent me, 
and the only one I have received, I lent to the Earl 
of Albemarle and have not received it back. As 
chairman of the Committee of the Military Knights 
of Windsor, I have been in correspondence with his 
Lordship for some months, he being our advocate in 
the House of Lords. On seeing the appointment of 
Lord Bury to an office in Canada, I have from time 
to time sent to the Earl Canadian papers of various 
descriptions, finding they are acceptable to him and 
to other individuals of the family. 

" You say, ' Last week I sent ycu one containing 
a second article on the same subject, which I took 
complimentary but somewhat mistaken notice of,' 
but this I have not received. I fear that all things 
sent by post are not surely delivered. Occasionally I 
send newspapers to Canada, and know not if they 
ever reach. I cannot enter into a correspondence to 
ascertain if they do. Last week I sent you a Times, 
and occasionally I may obtain one to send you here- 
after, though uncertain if they ever reach you. But 
the Provincial papers, no doubt, republish all, or 
nearly all, that can interest you Provincials. 

" I cannot think of offering you any comment on 
the thousand and one errors and blunders of our great 
men here. The public prints say much more than 
any private correspondent possibly could ; to them, 
therefore, I must refer you. In November I was on 
the point of addressing a letter to the Times, giving 
sage counsel to Lord Raglan. (What presumption ! ! !) 



202 A VETEttAN OF 1812. 

The letter which I thought of writing, I was sure the 
Times would not publish. Nevertheless, I am since 
sorry I did not then write it, as it would have actually 
foreshadowed almost every evil which has since been 
inflicted on that doomed (as it then appeared to me) 
army. I, who witnessed three campaigns in the 
winters of Canada, might well foresee the horrors in 
store for those gallant fellows. But the horrors have 
been so patiently, so heroically borne, that the soldiers 
of that army have added a new and beautiful ray 
of glory to the character of the British arms, or I 
should rather say, to the character of the British 
soldier. I consider this result as almost an equivalent 
for those losses and disasters — and the like, I say, of 
the insane charge at Balaclava, ordered by Lord 
Lucan. The men who made that charge have earned 
a place for themselves in history above that of any 
of their predecessors. These two examples will bring 
forth good fruit in due season. 

" The Roebuck Committee's report will be printed 
by order of the House, and, I suppose, sold as usual. 
I will, if I can, procure a copy for you. 

" You talk of blind and brainless men. Query : 
Have we any other now, after forty years of system- 
atical exclusion of all talent, as such, or if any one 
of the favored class did possess natural talent, had 
he any encouragement to cultivate his talent ? Or 
would he not have exposed himself to ridicule had he 
seriously attempted it ? Now, however, we are on 
the eve of changes which as yet cannot be clearly 
seen. 

" Being now old, and no more work in me, I often 
imagine myself as if standing on the top of the flag- 
staff on the Round Tower of this castle, and surveying 
all the passing displays of folly and wisdom exhibiting 



REPUBLIC OK COSSACK ? 293 

on the surface of this globe of ours, and sapiently 
commenting thereon. I often wish to record my 
imaginary comments, but it is too late in the day. 
Of the views and objects of the Royalists, the Aris- 
tocrats and the Democrats in Europe, I entertain 
opinions which I believe to be clear and well founded, 
but to detail them would be too much for me to write, 
and perhaps for you to read. But I am convinced 
that the period is approaching when Napoleon's say- 
ing at St. Helena will be verified, that a in fifty years 
Europe will be Republic or Cossack," and I think the 
danger is greater of its becoming Cossack than Re- 
public. The despots everywhere are armed and well 
prepared to pounce upon the first uprising of any of 
the peoples, who are everywhere isolated and, as it 
were, prostrate. I sometimes exclaim, ' Thank God, 
I have Canada to fall back upon/ Its future seems 
to me more full of promise than that of any other 
section of the human family. I long to be among 
you. I think I could make my pen useful to you all, 
but this hope is not a very strong one. 

" Tell Mrs. Mackenzie that if I go to Chatham, I 
will call upon Major Durie. But this is not likely, 
unless I can obtain more money from the Dean and 
Canons ; for I have reserved to myself only the bare 
means of subsistence, and have appropriated all else 
towards paying off my remaining debts. How cruel 
of this heartless Government to stand between me 
and the grant of land three times voted for me by the 
two Houses of the Upper Canada Parliament ! And 
yet they assented to the Rebels' Losses Bill, and voted 
to Papineau $4,500 which he had forfeited by his 
acknowledged rebellion. I sometimes lose my patience 
and my temper. God bless you and yours. 

«L F.G, 



294 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Although the letter to the Times of which Fitz- 
Gibbon speaks was not written, the following extract 
from one to his nephew Gerald, of a later date, may 
be interesting as a soldier's opinion on the cause of 
some of the disasters in the Crimea. The letter is 
dated Monday evening, 5th February, only, but from 
the context we may conclude the year to have been 
1856. 

" My indignation against those who have caused so 
many unnecessary evils to our army in the Crimea 
was boiling over when I wrote my last note to you, 
and I therefore forgot your request as to the Toronto 
magazine. It was then lent, and has not yet been 
returned to me, but when I receive it back I will 
send it to you by post. The charge will be sixpence 
only. 

" From all I have now read, I am confirmed in my 
opinion that those evils have been chiefly caused by 
the want of a good road from Balaclava to the camp. 
The want of that road I ascribe chiefly to Sir John 
Burgoyne, the commanding engineer there. Next to 
him I would blame Lord Raglan himself, who should 
early have foreseen the necessity for such a road. I 
consider that every officer on his staff", certainly the 
Quartermaster-General, Lord de Ros, and every gene- 
ral belonging to that army, as most shamefully want- 
ing in military skill and foresight. They were there 
for weeks before the bad weather set in, during which 
time I wonder the want of a winter road does not 
appear to have occurred to them ; or if it occurred to 
the juniors, they, perhaps, had not courage to offer an 
opinion to a senior. For many of our commanders I 
have known to have met such advice, or even sugges- 



DISASTERS IN THE CRIMEA. 295 

tion, with a contemptuous repulse. General de Rot- 
tenburg gave for answer to a suggestion offered to 
him by an excellent officer in Canada, in 1813 : 
' Colonel Nichol, when I want your advice I will ask 
you for it.' Yet if the colonel's suggestion had been 
acted upon, Buffalo would have been taken during 
the following week, and all the stores for the ap- 
proaching campaign captured or destroyed, which 
would have made it impossible for the Americans to 
invade the Province that summer. They, however, 
did invade it, and we lost Fort George and the lives 
of many hundreds of our officers and soldiers, together 
with many valuable stores and much provision. 

"I rejoice that the French army is side by side 
with ours, thus to prove, beyond all doubt or denial, 
our shameful mismanagement, which would be stoutly 
and insolently denied were our army acting alone, for 
it would be impudently said that such evils were 
inevitable." 

His knowledge of Canada and Canadian life brought 
many to him for information or letters of introduction 
for themselves or friends about to emigrate. All sorts 
and conditions of men came to him ; some he could 
put off with his card to be exhibited in Canada, but 
the majority requiring more particular attention, 
occupied much of his time and increased his corre- 
spondence extensively. 

The following letter, addressed to Mr. Stayner, 
Post Office Inspector of Upper Canada, and sent to 
the care of FitzGibbon's eldest son, is a specimen of 
the many kindly letters of introduction he wrote to 
old friends in Canada in behalf of parties in whom 
he was interested ; 



296 a veteran of 1812. 

" 9 Lower Ward, 
" Windsor Castle, Sept. 24th, 1859. 

" My Dear Sir, — I can hardly expect that you can 
recall me to your memory, for I never had the honor 
of an intimate acquaintance with you. I first saw 
you in Montreal in 1807 or '08, when you married 
the daughter of Mr. Sutherland, with whom I was 
then acquainted. I was then the Adjutant of the 
49th Regiment. 

" I am now impelled to address you in behalf of a 
young gentleman (son of one of the Military Knights 
of Windsor, Capt. Douglas, a neighbor of mine) who 
has ventured to identify his fortunes with the Pro- 
vince of Canada, and is now employed in the Provin- 
cial post office at Toronto. The Hon. W. H. Merritt, of 
Upper Canada, spent a day with me here this week, 
of whom I enquired if you were yet at the head of 
that department in Canada, and he thought you were, 
as he had recently seen you. 

" Capt. Douglas is now an old man, as all these Mili- 
tary Knights are. He has three daughters here with 
him. At his death I fear these three young ladies 
will be wholly unprovided for. They have two 
brothers. One is employed in the Post Office Depart- 
ment here in England, usually in taking charge of 
the mails to Alexandria and other ports in the Medi- 
terranean. His conduct has given so much satisfaction 
that he has recently been promoted in the Depart- 
ment. This brother remits to his sisters all he can 
possibly spare from his income. That his brother in 
Canada is equally desirous of aiding them I entirely 
believe. 

" The interest I take in these young ladies impels 
me to address you ; they are intimate with my two 
nieces who reside with me and keep house for me, 



A LETTER OF INTRODUCTION. 297 

and I am therefore acquainted with the particulars 
which I thus communicate. 

" Should the brother in Canada be really deserving 
of your favorable consideration, may I venture to 
bring him to your notice, in the anxious hope that he 
may be soon enabled to contribute his share to the 
support of these excellent girls. 

" The only apology I can offer for thus trespassing 
upon your benevolent attention is my desire ' to do 
good to my neighbor ; ' and my impression of you 
makes me believe that my appeal will not be unac- 
ceptable, but rather the contrary, if you can depend 
upon my judgment and discretion in making this 
statement. And I venture to hope that the recollec- 
tions of those days, and of the 49th Regiment, will be 
pleasing to you, especially of the family of the late 
Dr. Robertson and Mrs. Robertson, who were intimate 
friends of Mr. and Mrs. Sutherland. 

" Do not take the trouble of acknowledging the 
receipt of this letter. I write it in the hope that you 
are yet at the head of the Department in Canada, 
and that it may possibly be in your power to advance 
this young man should his good conduct deserve your 
patronage. 

" Should Mrs. Stayner be yet alive to bless you, 
pray offer my kind remembrances, for I well remem- 
ber her while she was at school. 

" Very truly, my dear Sir, yours, 

" James FitzGibbon." 

This kindly letter was never delivered. Mr. Stay- 
ner had been succeeded by Mr. John Dewe, and he 
being a more intimate friend, and the letter being 
unsealed, its contents were conveyed to him verbally. 

19 



298 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

In the postscript to the letter to his son, FitzGibbon 
says : 

" Since writing the foregoing I have looked over a 
Canadian almanac, and see that Mr. Dewe is In- 
spector of the Department in Toronto. He called on 
me here a few days ago in company with Mr. Van- 
koughnet, of Toronto. I knew him in Kingston 
formerly, and I feel confident he would willingly 
oblige me. Show him my letter to Mr. Stayner, and 
I think you had better follow his advice in regard to 
young Douglas. He may be able to do more for him 
than anyone else." 

FitzGibbon's energetic service did not stop here. A 
short time before his appointment a question had 
been raised by the knights over the appropriation of 
the revenues from which their pensions were paid. 

Few among them had influential friends who cared 
to exert themselves in their behalf. They could only 
bemoan their wrongs and condole with each other 
over the iniquity of those who had deprived them of 
their just rights, the supineness of those who had 
benefited by it, and the coldness of the Government 
that could not be moved to take any action in the 
matter. They were literally " poor knights," although 
the march of manners had altered the title to "Military 
and Naval Knights," and were proving the worldly 
wise maxim that " those who cannot command friends 
at Court, find it hard to obtain them by begging." 

But FitzGibbon was not one to rest content under a 
wrong without making an effort to right it, especially 



RIGHTING A WRONG. 299 

when he could thereby benefit others. Though poor 
in purse, he was rich in friends, in resource and ability. 
Fortunately for the success of his efforts, one of the 
next vacancies among the knights was filled by the 
appointment of Sir John Millais Doyle. Sir John 
was a man of family and position in the army. He 
seconded Fitz Gibbon's efforts, and brought many 
influential friends to bear upon the question. They 
worked together, and succeeded in making such a stir, 
both through the press and in Parliament, that the 
knights' cause was taken up and carried into Court. 

The correspondence the case entailed fell principally 
on FitzjGribbon. The business carried him frequently 
to London to interview those whose interest could 
further the settlement of the claim of the lawyers 
who had taken it under their charge. 

Sir John Doyle knew little of business matters 
other than military, and he was willing enough to 
leave it to his more enthusiastically energetic friend. 
Lord Albemarle took a great interest in it, and friendly 
letters passed between him and FitzGibbon on the 
subject. The latter's letters to Dublin from the years 
1851 to 1859 are full of the hopes and fears to which 
the various delays and law proceedings gave rise ; 
regret at the delay and the consequent deprivation as 
one or other of the knights, who had watched the 
case in anxious anticipation of an increase of income, 
passed away without receiving any benefit; and of 
indignation at the slow progress, dilatoriness and law 



300 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

quibbles resorted to in order to postpone the hearing. 
(See Appendix XI.) 

Sanguine expectations of obtaining redress, antici- 
pations of an increase of from two to three hundred 
a year to the one shilling a day allowed, dwindled as 
the years passed and their cause was deferred from 
term to term ; and hope dying hard, they were thank- 
ful to accept the sixty pounds a year derived from 
the lapsed canonry finally allotted to them. 

The sum varied according to the proceeds or revenue 
derived from the " new canonry," as it was called by 
the knights. In 1863, the amount they received only 
reached the sum of thirty pounds fourteen shillings. 

In a letter dated January 19th, 1853, he says : " The 
knights' case before the Chancellor does not appear 
to make much progress. We are just told that the 
Dean and Canons are about to demur to the jurisdic- 
tion of that Court. Should the demurrer be allowed, 
I am told our case will be the stronger. But will it 
be the sooner terminated ? Time will tell, but it may 
be a long time. Procrastination is to these fat divines 
rich living ; while to the lean old soldiers it is short 
commons. However, with the fins of the Dogger 
Bank codfish * and the wings of the Windsor Park 
pheasants,f my larder can furnish more than one 



*Sent FitzGibbon from Ramsgate by Major Plenderleath, a 
brother of his old friend and brother officer of the 49th. 

t A brace of pheasants sent annually as a New Year's gift to each 
Military Knight by H. R. Highness the Prince Consort. 



SINNERS VS. SAINTS. 301 

sporting dinner. Thanks to the sinners rather than 
the saints — the cormorants." 

On December 5th, 1856, he writes : " I send you a 
copy of a note from our solicitor, that you may see 
the progress making in our suit against the Dean and 
Canons here. I begin now to indulge hope a little ; 
but even if not successful, I will not be disappointed. 
Your father, who knows so much of ' the glorious 
uncertainty of the law,' will approve of the resolution. 
But if my income be increased, and I live to be out 
of debt, I fear I shall not then know how to ' demean 
myself ' in circumstances so entirely new to me." 

The copy sent is but the usual lawyer's letter, 
reporting proceedings, and there being " every pros- 
pect of success attending our efforts." 

This hopeful prospect was, however, not realized, 
and the disappointment felt by his clients was pro- 
portionately great. Sir John Doyle died without 
receiving any benefit from the lapsed canonry finally 
granted them, and FitzGibbon enjoyed it only for one 
year and a half. Small though the addition was, the 
knights owed it, certainly to some extent, to FitzGib- 
bon's energy, perseverance and determination to do 
his best to succeed. 

Other friends who were most instrumental in aiding 
him to force the case upon the attention of the author- 
ities, were Colonel North, of Wroxham Abbey ; Sir 
Francis Doyle and General Read, M.P. for Windsor. 
Charles Grenfel, also M.P. for Windsor, was also one of 
the most active supporters of the claim, and FitzGibbon 



302 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

was able to repay him in kind. When the "represen- 
tation of Windsor was being hotly contested by Mr. - 
Grenfel and Lord Charles Wellesley in 1859, Fitz- 
Gibbon brought up the knights in a body to vote, and 
turned the poll in favor of the man who advocated 
his cause. 

This was almost the last flash of the old energy 
and enterprise. The malady, a sort of epileptic or 
apoplectic seizure, which eventually caused his death, 
showed its first symptoms shortly after, and though 
he recovered from the first attack, he never regained 
the old strength. His grand constitution, a life of 
steady abstemiousness and healthy exercise, his steady 
perseverance and sanguine temperament, enabled him 
to rally after each successive attack with surprising 
vitality. 

The knights' case ended, there was no longer any 
incentive to exertion, but he kept up a lively corre- 
spondence, his handwriting and diction showing few 
signs of decaying powers. When reading the papers 
now and then, the old fire flashed out in protest 
against injustice or pusillanimous fears. 

The following letter, written after reading the 

report of a debate in the House of Commons, on the 

question of the rumored threatened invasion by the 

French, is an instance : 

"August, 1860. 

"Sir, — I have just read the communication ad- 
dressed to you, signed " H," and published in the Star 
of this morning. I am in the eightieth year of my 
age, and too feeble to express at much length in writ- 



THE FRENCH INVASION SCARE. 303 

ing the feelings excited in my mind by the perusal of 
that paper. But I cannot refrain from expressing 
myself as follows : 

" I entered the army as a private soldier in the year 
1798, and was placed on half pay as a captain on the 
reduction of the army in 1816. I have met the 
French repeatedly in action among the sand-hills of 
Holland in 1799, and other enemies of England in 
other countries for several years afterwards. 

" I have ever looked with contempt upon batteries 
and breastworks in almost every position. I look 
upon fighting face to face as the true mode of trial 
for the British soldier. Batteries and other works of 
defence I have thought rather diminished the soldier's 
bravery. 

" I consider it impossible for the French to land 
half a million of men in England, perhaps even half 
that number could not be brought over at one time. 
Have we not five millions capable of bearing arms ? 
Could we not in a few days bring together half a 
million of these to meet the French ? Would not 
our men be filled with indignation against any enemy 
who dared to insult us by such invasion ? 

" I know that the French soldier advances to meet 
the British bayonet with more hesitation, I will not 
say trepidation, than he would advance' to meet any 
otlier enemy. The British soldier rejoices in his 
bayonet. It does not require much skill or manoeuv- 
ring to bring an enemy at once to close quarters. We 
have only to rush upon an opposing line and decide 
the issue at once by a hand-to-hand encounter. No 
two lines have ever yet crossed bayonets in battle. 
I was often assured that it was done at the battle of 
Maida, but I did not believe it. Long after that battle, 
Sir James Kempt, who commanded our battalion mak- 
ing that charge, declared in my presence that the 



304 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

bayonets did not cross. The French, while advancing, 
hesitated, and at last halted, turned round and ran 
away ; but they delayed too long in doing so ; the 
British rushed in, and laid upwards of three hundred 
of them on their faces with the bayonet. Very many 
years after, I repeated this to Commodore Sandham 
of the navy, who said to me : ' I am glad you men- 
tioned this matter to me, for I was that morning a 
lieutenant in one of the ships which landed our force 
in the Bay of St. Euphemia, and witnessed the action 
from our decks. After the battle was over the men 
were re-embarked, together with many wounded 
French soldiers, and it was curious to see the wounded 
in the sick bay the following morning — all the French 
on their faces, being stabbed in the back ; while all 
the British lay on their backs, being shot in front by 
the volley which the French fired as they advanced 
to the charge.' 

" Would that I could cry aloud in the ear of every 
Briton, calling upon him to hold in contempt all 
defensive works. An enemy must land upon an open 
beach. We must know of his coming many days 
before he can possibly come. We may, therefore, be 
to some extent prepared. Even though we be not 
at hand to meet him, telegraph and rail-cars can soon 
bring us upon him ; and then if we do not kill and 
capture his army, we deserve to be conquered and 
enslaved. But of the issue I have no doubt. 

" I do not now hesitate to declare that no army 
from France will ever invade England. For it is 
manifest to me that no nation of 20,000,000 people 
can ever be overcome by any force which can possibly 
be brought from abroad. I am ashamed of the debates 
in the House of Commons upon the question of the 
projected defences. They fill me with indignation. 
Is it that those members are chiefly of the feeble 



CLOSING SCENES. 305 

aristocracy, the plutocracy and dandyocracy, that 
they seek to defend our country by means of spade 
and pick-axe, rather than by strong hands, stout 
hearts and British bayonets ? 

" It requires but little previous drill to qualify our 
yeomanry to fight the battle of 'the bayonet, and 
therefore I rejoice at the organization of our volun- 
teers. Of these we may organize a number quite 
equal to the destruction of any invading force. Upon 
these our old men, our women and children, may 
look with confidence, with pride and affection, and 
they will never be disappointed. 

" I pray of you to publish this, which may be called 
a rash effusion, but I write it with the fullest con- 
viction. 

" Your obedient servant, 

" An Old Soldier, who despises all fear 

" of invasion." 

FitzGibbon clung more closely to the fireside as the 
end approached, and seldom quitted the precincts of 
the Castle. He was always glad to see and chat with 
his old friends from Dublin, London and Canada, 
and many visited him. The old love for Canada 
returned with redoubled force ; the burden of all the 
latest letters is to be once more among the old scenes, 
and to be to his grandchildren what his grandfather 
had been to him. So strong was this longing that his 
medical attendant was consulted on the possibility of 
his being able to endure the voyage. But it was not 
to be. The soldier who had fought for Canada was 
not to find a grave within her borders. 



306 A VETERAN OF 18l2. 

During one of his many visits to the Castle, his 
nephew, Gerald FitzGibbon, induced him to have a 
photograph taken to send to the grandchildren he 
wished so much to see. It was sent with a loving 
message and apology for what he considered an "un- 
soldierly beard," but his hand had grown " too infirm 
to trust it with a razor." It is from this photograph 
that the frontispiece is taken. 

He died at Windsor, on December 10th, 1863, and 
was laid to rest in the catacombs of St. George's, 
beside those he had loved and honored most among 
his fellow-knights. 

Thus ended the life of one whose enthusiastic tem- 
perament and excitability led him often to run counter 
to the world's opinion, or the more coldly calculating 
worldly wisdom of his superiors, but whose fearless 
integrity and honest singleness of purpose carried 
him to the goal he sought; one whose sole aim in 
life was to be an honest man, a simple soldier, to do 
his duty to his country, good to his neighbor, and 
walk humbly with his God. 



REGULARS VS. MILITIA. 307 



CHAPTER XIII. 

tT is not so very many years since, even in good 
society, it was no uncommon thing to hear 
preference expressed for " regulars ' in con- 
tradistinction to the " militia." While British regi- 
ments were quartered in Upper Canada they took 
precedence of the militia here as elsewhere. But it 
was among the ignorant only that this precedence 
was given in private, with an insolence which showed 
a disregard for the feelings, and ingratitude for the 
services of the men who had fought so well in defence 
of their homes, and whose knowledge of the country, 
as well as of the foe, had contributed much to the 
success and glory of the army. 

A letter appeared in the Niagara Spectator of 
December 3rd, 1818, which was calculated to do 
considerable harm at the time. In it, apparently, 
the writer made assertions which accused the officers 
of His Majesty's regulars of decrying the services 
and standing of the militia, with whom they had 
fought side by side during an eventful war, and 
statements which would persuade the readers of the 
paper that appeals to the Commander-in-Chief for 
either compensation for losses suffered during the 
war, or redress of wrongs inflicted upon the settlers 
by the ruthless marauders who, if not of them, at 



308 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

any rate accompanied the invading armies, were 
disregarded and treated with indifference. 

Among the Archives of the Militia Department at 
Ottawa there are a number of such petitions with 
the reply received — some of them docketed by 
FitzGibbon's hand, possibly as Assistant Adjutant- 
General — of which FitzGibbon speaks in the letter 
appended herewith. I have not, however, been able 
to find the particular one referred to. These papers 
are unedited, and but partly assorted ; the files, too, 
incomplete, owing, no doubt, to the vicissitudes 
attendant upon fire and frequent moving. Fitz- 
Gibbon's letter was published in the Montreal Herald 
of December 26th, 1818, and probably appeared in 
other papers of the period. It is dated : 

"York, Dec. 8th, 1818. 

" To the Militia of Upper Canada : 

" Gentlemen, — I cannot, in justice to my brother 
officers, and with due regard to the respect which I 
bear you, permit to pass uncontradicted the gross 
falsehoods written by Mr. Gourlay and published in 
the Niagara Spectator of the 3rd inst. 

" There were few officers in Canada during the late 
war who were not known to me, and I have ever 
heard them speak of you with respect, and frequently 
in the fervor of admiration. 

" I do therefore step forward to repeal this impudent 
calumny, and to oppose to your honest indignation, 
the man who would seek to destroy the cordial good- 
will which has hitherto subsisted between us, and 



A GENEROUS GIFT. 309 

which, under the blessing of divine Providence, con- 
tributed so much to the glorious successes during the 
late contest with our neighbors. 

" I cannot upon this occasion forbear exposing the 
falsehoods of Mr. Gourlay's representations on the 
subject of the Petitions of which he speaks. It is 
within my knowledge that the answer of His Royal 
Highness the Prince Regent to the address of the 
Commons House of Assembly of March last was 
transmitted to that House during the last session, and 
that the Prayer of the Petition in favor of Angelique 
Pilotte was promptly and most graciously answered 
by His Royal Highness. 

" These facts have casually come to my knowledge, 
and I think it very reasonable to suppose that the 
others have been equally attended to. 

" I have the honor to be, gentlemen, 

"James FitzGibbon."* 

When the first edition of this book had £one to 
press, the question of a suitable design for the cover 
arose. After looking through a number of conven- 
tional patterns without success, the idea of a sketch 
of the "Veteran's " swords was suggested. FitzGibbon 
had given his service sword to his son James when he 
was gazetted to Her Majesty's 24th Regiment, in 1844, 
and the only swords now in possession of the family 
are the straight cross-hilted one he wore as a Military 
Knight of Windsor, and the dress sword given him 
by Sir Augustus d'Este (see page 242). The follow- 
ing is a copy of the letter which accompanied it, and 
which I am able to include in the present edition : 

* For letter on Canadian Militia, see Appendix XII. 



310 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

"August, 24th, 1839. 

" Dear and much esteemed Sir, — By the vote of 
your fellow-citizens, and by the testimony of the 
most reverend and of the highest authorities in 
Upper Canada under the Governor, it has been made 
manifest that you were favored by Providence in 
having and availing yourself of the opportunity of 
saving your Province from the incalculable evils 
which must have been consequent upon the falling of 
Toronto (to say the least) into the temporary power 
of licentious rebels ; in the sequel it will be seen how 
far and in what manner, from the Crown itself to the 
ranks of educated intelligence amongst your fellow- 
provincials, such an important service has been appre- 
ciated, acknowledged and rewarded ; in an humble 
individual like myself it calls forth all the respect and 
admiration which those in private station who love 
their country delight to offer in return for public 
benefit. 

" The service which it has been your great good 
fortune to render to your Province having been of a 
military nature, perhaps a token of the sentiments 
mentioned in the previous paragraph, and with which 
I am so livelily affected towards yourself, should be 
of the same character ? May I therefore venture to 
request that you will favor me and do me the honor 
of accepting the accompanying sword, and may I in- 
dulge the hope that the circumstance of having worn 
it myself will not unfavorably affect the feeling with 
which you will accept of it. 

"Renewing assurances of my esteem, permit me, 
my dear sir, to subscribe myself, 

" Yours most sincerely, 

" Augustus d'Este. 
"No. 1 Connaught Square, London. 

" To Lieut-Col. FitzGibbon, of Toronto." 



LETTER TO BROCK'S BIOGRAPHER. 311 

The publication of the " Life and Correspondence 
of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, K.C.B.," by his 
nephew, Ferdinand Brock Tupper, in 1845, led to 
a long and interesting correspondence between the 
author and " the old 49th man." 

"I have received your letter of the 15th ultimo," 
FitzGibbon writes from' Montreal on June 19th, 1845, 
" the perusal of which has revived in my memory 
many of the most interesting circumstances of my 
early life. 

" Mr. Maingy's box has not yet been received here, 
but as soon after the perusal of your book as I can 
write them, I will send you such particulars of the 
mutiny at Niagara,* as will give you a very full 
knowledge of that unfortunate event in the history 
of the 49th. 1 accompanied Sir Isaac Brock from 
York (now Toronto) to Niagara, when he crossed over 
Lake Ontario, and had seized and imprisoned the 
chief mutineers. All the examinations were had in 
my presence, or, I should rather say, I was permitted 
to be present, for I was then but the sergeant-major 
of the regiment. I was sent to Quebec with the 
prisoners, and witnessed all the proceedings before the 
court-martial which tried them, and all the particulars 
which were elicited became known to me. 

" Of the passing events and occurrences of my early 
life I have no early written record. Within the last 
twenty years I have committed to paper some parti- 
culars still remembered by me, others yet remembered 
I have not recorded. But in compliance with your 
request I will send you all I think at all deserving 
your notice, which from my present impression you 
will find, I fear, little interesting, The perusal of 

* See Page 54. 



312 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

your book may revive some events forgotten by me, 
and perhaps in other respects guide me in making my 
notes. 

" I write this short note merely to acknowledge the 
receipt of yours, and to give you an assurance of my 
great desire to be at all instrumental, even in the 
humblest degree, in adding to the fame of my earliest 
and best benefactor. And if there was another man 
for whom I felt an almost equal degree of regard and 
gratitude, that man was John Savery Brock. I am 
indulging the hope of one day seeing his widow and 
children in Guernsey. But I can say no more now. 

" I am just arrived from Upper Canada, and have 
resumed my duties as Clerk of the Honorable the 
Legislative Council of Canada. I will endeavor soon 
to retire from them because of age and consequent 
debility. 

" That I may do honor to the General's memory, I 
have ever striven to serve my country well, and the 
Almighty has blessed my poor efforts more than in 
early life I had ever anticipated." 

The recollections subsequently sent to Mr. Tupper 
added much to the value of the second edition of the 
work. 

On other matters there are many interesting items. 
On November 26th he writes : 

" Lord Metcalfe left us this morning 4"or Boston on 
his return. God grant he may reach England alive. 
We never can expect such a man again. I am this 
moment returned from Government House, whither 
I was summoned to witness the swearing in of Earl 
Cathcart. I have a few minutes only to give you 



GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 313 

rapidly a few answers to your queries before the mail 
closes. Lieutenant Johnson was taken prisoner — not 
wounded. I was taken a few minutes before him,* 
and was in prison with him until January following. 

" The Jesuits' garden,-)- for many years after 1807, 
was used as a parade to my knowledge. At present, 
I believe, it is so used, but I know not positively. I 
will acquaint you by next mail. Lieut. Johnson was 
not exchanged in the ordinary way. By the conven- 
tion entered into between the Duke of York and Mar- 
shal Brunn, it was agreed to restore all the prisoners 
taken on both sides, and so we were released. 

" In noting the services of the 49th in Canada, 
would not the capture of Colonel Boerstler's detach- 
ment at the Beaver Dams in June, 1813, by my 
detachment of forty-nine men — for that was the pre- 
cise number, including myself — be an appropriate 
item ? 

" Perhaps modesty ought to keep me from putting 
this question ; but, selfishness and vanity apart, I 
think it properly belongs to the credit of Sir Isaac 
Brock. When I brought in those five hundred 
prisoners and delivered them up to General Vincent, 
I then thought I would have given the world's wealth 
to have General Brock there alive to say to him, 
' Here, sir, is the first instalment of my debt of 
gratitude to you for all you have done for me. In 
words I have never thanked you, because words could 
never express my gratitude for such generous pro- 
tection as you have hitherto unceasingly extended 
to me.' 

" You will find a brief account of it in a little 
periodical publication published many years ago in 



* p]gmont-op-Zee (see page 29). t Quebec. 

20 



314 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

London, called, I believe, the ' Soldier's Companion.'"* 
The account given of the mutiny at Fort George 
called forth some angry protests from friends of Sir 
Roger Hale SheafFe, and led to a bitter controversy in 
the press. The following letter will throw a side- 
light upon that page of our history : 

"Montreal, December 27th, 1845. 

"My Dear Sir, — The first information I had of 
your book was communicated to me by a letter from 
Lt.-Col. Loring from Toronto, enclosing one to him 
from Sir R. H. Sheaffe. I extract the following from 
Sir R.'s letter : 

" 'But another worthy of notice must have been less 
notorious, to which FitzGibbon can testify, that those 
prisoners who were ordered to rejoin their regiment 
(whom I accompanied) told him that there was no 
officer under whom they would rather serve than 
myself — which he told me on our way up the river.' 

" Inasmuch as I never accompanied Sir R up the 
river, I could not have had any conversation with 
him there. The proceedings of the court-martial 
were conveyed by me from Quebec to York, having 
left Quebec — where Col. Sheaffe then was — on the 
6th of January, 1804, and I delivered the packet to 
Col. Green, Military Secretary to Lt!-General Hunter, 
in York, I believe, on the 24th of the same month, 
having travelled through snow for nearly six hundred 
miles, drawn by the same horse, and through long- 
tracts of unsettled forest. 

" Immediately after this I rejoined the Regimental 
Headquarters at Fort George — Col. Brock having 
removed thither from York during the preceding 

* See page 78. 



SIR ROGER H. SHEAFFE. 315 

autumn. Col. Sheaffe returned to Upper Canada 
from Quebec the following summer, I being at Fort 
George while he was ascending the river. I suppose 
he must have mistaken me for some other non- 
commissioned officer who then accompanied him. In 
another place he writes : ' Make it known to Fitz- 
Gibbon, from whom I should like to receive a 
certificate of what was told him by the prisoners 
and of Rock's declaration.' Now, of this declaration 
I never heard or learned anything until I saw Sir R.'s 
letter to Lt.-Col. Loring, and therefore my letter to 
Lt.-Col. Loring, which Sir R. now has, declares my 
ignorance of those circumstances. Of Rock's declara- 
tion I was not likely to know anything, having been 
at Fort George when the mutineers were shot at 
Quebec on the 2nd of March, 1804. 

" When I wrote the account of the mutiny I took 
for granted that Sir Roger would at once be satisfied 
that I was the writer, and as I desired very much to 
spare his feelings, I gave my best consideration to 
your request, and I decided that I must give the 
statement such as I wrote it, or decline doing so 
altogether ; for to omit the expressions of the elder 
Fitzpatrick to Major Wulff's servant would be keep- 
ing out of view the real source of the discovery of 
the conspiracy. Beyond that statement I studiously 
guarded myself against giving any other facts to 
prove that the mutiny was chiefly (I will not say 
altogether) caused by Sir R.'s irritating and insulting 
language, even to officers as well as to all others, at 
parade and drill. I would not place at your disposal 
statements to prove all this. I left the controversy 
between you and Sir R.'s defenders, giving the one 
expression only of Fitzpatrick, which, if not given, 
would have left very incomplete the account I 
gave you of the mutiny ; and from that account, as 



316 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

published by you, you very forgivingly omitted Sir 
R.'s name, which in my account was given. 

" I have not the least desire to conceal from any 
one that I am the writer of that statement, nor do I 
desire to conceal any statement I have made should 
circumstances arise which, in your judgment, may 
reasonably call for further publication. On my own 
account I have no desire for concealment. 

" But to all I have written or may yet write, show- 
ing forth the conduct of Sir Roger as a regimental 
commanding officer, I would add that I have heard in 
those days irritating and insulting language used to 
officers and men of other regiments at parade and 
drill, by at least six other commanders of regiments, 
which in these days would not be tolerated for one 
week. 

" Were I to repeat now to Sir Roger the substance 
of the conversations I had with him in Quebec while 
the mutineers were on their defence, when they made 
many charges against him in extenuation of their 
own guilty conduct, to none of which will I here 
further allude, he would more justly appreciate any 
subsequent admissions they may have made when 
under sentence, as to his conduct as their commanding 
officer. He questioned me in detail from day to day 
during the trials as to these charges (for my name 
being on the list of witnesses I could be present in 
court only when called on to give evidence), and I 
told him very fully why they then attacked him, and 
I could plainly see that ever after he became less and 
less irritating and insulting to those under his com- 
mand. But years elapsed before he could acquire 
that degree of self-control which ought to characterize 
every officer and gentleman, and were I near him now 
I could bring to his recollection some mortifying 
rebuffs which were given him from time to time 



A MILITARY AUTOCRAT. 317 

afterwards by some under his command for his unjus- 
tifiable language and manner toward them. But he 
at length became a good commander of a regiment, 
for he was at heart kind, benevolent and religious ; 
but these sentiments were, in his earlier days of 
command, nearly if not entirely over- ruled by his 
extreme ideas of military authority and power, and 
by his over- weening opinion of his own military 
talent for drill, and his own unequalled zeal in the 
public service. In proof of this I could give many 
facts. 

" I hope and trust your controversy will have been 
brought to an end before this letter reaches you, and 
that the indiscreet friends of Sir Roger will have 
ceased to attack you. Should they not, I would ven- 
ture to suggest to you to ask for an interview with 
any one of those friends, or any one deputed by them, 
and show them this letter, and for their information 
I here declare that I can give numerous facts which, 
if published in these days of improved military 
manners, would be most painful to Sir Roger and 
disparaging to his reputation. 

" I have carefully looked over what I have now 
written, and I beg leave to add that I have not 
employed my pen at all as a partizan in the contro- 
versy between you and Sir Roger. How far you 
might have prepared your book without those refer- 
ences or allusions to Sir Roger J have not enquired, 
nor do I think myself competent to judge. You asked 
me for a statement, and I gave it. Considering all 
the circumstances of the case I still think myself jus- 
tifiable in writing the one I gave. I am of opinion 
that truth is not always to be withheld because its 
expression may wound the minds of public men whose 
public conduct, when truly stated, may subject them 
to public animadversion or censure. Let me beg of 



318 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

you, however, not to make any further use of what I 
have written unless you may feel yourself under a 
strong necessity for doing so; at least during the 
short time which Sir Roger must yet have to live. 
" I remain, my dear Sir, most sincerely yours, 

"James FitzGibbon." 

In the postscript of this letter reference is made to 
an article written in answer to a question asked by 
one of his sons, and in a subsequent letter he thanks 
Mr. Tupper, through whose hand he concludes 
" Queenston " had appeared in the Naval and Military 
Gazette. 

Later, another "defender of the 41st Regiment" 
attacked Tupper. His answer, which appeared in the 
New York Albion, FitzGibbon carried to the editor 
of the Montreal Courier for insertion in that paper 
(it appeared on May 14th, 1846). FitzGibbon adds: 

" The writer of the attack upon you is Mr. Richard- 
son, commonly called Major Richardson, he having, it 
is said, held that rank in the Spanish Legion under 
General Evans. He is at present in this city (Mont- 
real). He has written some novels, of which that 
called " Wacousta " is one. He conducted a news- 
paper in Canada for some time, which broke down 
some two or three years ago." 

The correspondence with Mr. Tupper continued 
with little intermission after FitzGibbon returned to 
England. Though he never paid this often planned- 
for and talked-of visit to Guernsey, Mr. Tupper and 
his daughter visited him after . his appointment as 
Military Knight at Windsor. 



DEATH OF GENERAL VINCENT. 319 

Scattered throughout these letters are references 
to many of the men whom he had served with, or 
under, while in Canada, to the routine of his life, 
his desire to return to Canada, and to his ever unflag- 
ging interest in the questions which might affect or 
influence the welfare of the ." Provinces." In that 
written on January 28th, 1848, is a brief opinion of 
one of his former commanders : 

" General Vincent died here on Friday last, aged 
about 82. He was at all times a feeble man, both in 
mind and body, and to me the wonder has been that 
he lived so long. His death places the 69th at the 
disposal of the Commander-in-Chief. His funeral 
will be attended by two of the old 49th men, namely, 
Major Bleamire and me. Possibly Lieut.-Colonel 
Plenderleath and Major Brock may attend also." 

After the issue of the second edition of the " Life 
and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock," several of 
his brother officers, in acknowledging the receipt of 
a copy, mention FitzGibbon — among them Capt. 
Brackenbury,* who writes in September, 1848: 

" In a cursory glance over the contents of the work 
(which I have begun to devour), I am delighted to 
find that you have placed our common friend, Fitz- 
Gibbon, in such bold relief. He is richly entitled to 
the distinction, and it may be of service to him in his 
present position — at all events his old age will be 
cheered in thus finding himself in such honorable 
juxtaposition with his heroic and almost idolized 
patron." 



See page 56. 



320 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

And again — 

" My quondam associate and gallant friend, Fitz- 
Gibbon, has spoken and written of my services 
toward himself in too flattering terms. About three 
months since (having accidentally discovered that I 
was in the land of the living), he wrote me one of the 
most beautiful, feeling and graphic letters I ever 
perused." 

Evidently this friendly recollection was repeated 
to FitzGibbon, or mention made of it by his old friend 
Mr. Tupper, to draw forth the following reply. As it 
contains a reference to an item of military red tape 
which must often have influenced the soldiers' for- 
tunes, I quote it in full : 

" Your account of Captain Brackenbury is most 
gratifying to me. I entirely concur with you in 
thinking that his exchange to the 17th Light Dra- 
goons was an unfortunate move. It was brought 
about without his knowledge, and of course without 
his consent. Lieut. O'Bierne, of the latter regiment, 
was placed on the staff of General Drummond in 1808 
or 1809,* and it became necessary to transfer him to 
a regiment on that station else he would have to be 
placed on half pay. The friends of Lieutenant Bartley, 
of the 49th, were applied to, and offered the exchange, 
which they declined. Then Brackenbury 's friends 
were applied to, and they accepted the offer. One 
morning on the Champs de Mars, in Montreal, Col- 
' onel Sheaffe came upon the parade and very formally 
saluted 'Lieutenant Brackenbury, of His Majesty's 
17th Light Dragoons.' ' Why, Colonel, do you amuse 
yourself at my expense this morning ? ' 'It amuses 

* 1809 is the date given by Brackenbury. 



DISORDERLY MILITIA. 321 

me not, because what I say is too true, and that we 
must lose you, which we all regret.' And so we lost 
Brackenbury. That Lieutenant Bartley, then junior 
to Brackenbury, and altogether unequal to him in 
every respect, arose to the command of the regiment, 
and led it in several actions in China, and was created 
a K.C.B. Poor fellow ; he died on board a steamboat 
after leaving Alexandria on his return home from 
India." 

In a postscript to a letter with which is enclosed 
one from Dr. Winder, Librarian to the Legislative 
Assembly, but late of the 49th, that Mr. Tupper 
might read what Dr. Winder says of his book, is the 
following : 

" My friend Winder is too severe upon the Ameri- 
cans. In any event I have no fear for the North 
American provinces ; they are stronger to defend 
than Americans are to attack. The latter are a 
feeble people to make war beyond their own frontier. 
They cannot find idle and vagabond individuals 
enough in their country to compose an army of one 
hundred thousand men, and their militia will not 
leave their own shores to invade ours. Witness their 
conduct during the battle of Queenston. Their troops 
were at best a disobedient and disorderly set of men, 
and the provinces could drive back an army of the 
above number. Their success in Mexico has not 
altered my former opinion of them ; it was owing 
chiefly to the weak resistance of a miserable race 
well known to the invaders." 

The above is characteristic. 

Query : Would his opinion be altered any more by 
the nation's recent success in Cuba ? 



322 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

The letter, as written at the request of Lord Seaton 
(Sir John Colborne), referred to in the Preface, will 
be found in the appendix to this edition. It was 
evidently this to which Miss Strickland refers in her 
letter on pages 263-4. 

The receipt of copies of the Niagara Mail, of May, 
1853, sent FitzGibbon by an unknown friend, and the 
perusal of an able article in its columns, induced him 
to write to the editor. He had also received copies 
of the Mail of October and December, 1852, in which 
the account of the laying of the foundation-stone of 
the new monument to " the memory of my first com- 
mander and earliest and best patron, the lamented 
leader of our gallant soldiers, devoted militia men 
and Indian warriors at Queenston on October 13th, 
1812." 

" The paper just received gives me infinite pleasure 
by its account of your growing prosperity. Upon 
several occasions since my return from Canada I have 
been called an enthusiast and a visionary because of 
the opinions I often expressed in London of Canada's 
future progress in wealth, prosperity and social happi- 
ness, and now I see my highest hopes more than 
realized. Your situation is peculiarly favorable, your 
entire rear being forever covered by your northern 
climate, which climate is a blessing to your people 
because your winters make men of you, such men as 
you never could be were your summer perpetual. 
Even with your present population, I consider the 
British provinces now fully adequate to their own 
defence without any assistance from the parent 
State." 



High postal rates. 323 

Mr. Kirby's reply pleased FitzGibbon so much 
that he made an effort to have parts of it inserted in 
one of the London papers. In this he failed, but was 
more successful later. 

" On receiving the Mail (Niagara) of the 5th July, 
the day before last," he writes on August 11th, "I 
enclosed it to the secretary of one of our principal 
statesmen, and this morning received a note from 
him : 

(Copy) ' August 10th. 

" ' Sir, — I beg to acknowledge your note and en- 
closure of yesterday, which I hope to have the 

opportunity of placing before ■ at the first 

moment of his leisure.' 

" Immediately after I went to the reading-room, 
and there saw in the Morning Chronicle of this 
morning the whole of your editorial commentary on 
the speeches of Lords Ellenborough and Brougham, 
at full length as copied ' from the Niagara Mail, 5th 
July.' This is some satisfaction to me after the 
disappointment of my first efforts." 

After asking the editor to put his name on the 
regular subscription list of his paper, FitzGibbon goes 
on to make a statement which in these days of 
recognition of the value of cheap postal rates with 
the Mother Country is significant. 

" I receive a good many papers from Canada weekly, 
and for some time sent them through the post-office 
to my friends in these kingdoms, but lately they have 
been charged 8d. each, so that I cease to send them. 



324 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

I addressed a letter to the Postmaster-General request- 
ing to be allowed to circulate the Canadian papers, 
putting upon them each a penny stamp. In answer, 
it was said 'that it was not thought expedient to 
adopt my suggestion.' Could not the press in Canada 
join in a "crusade against the authorities in St. Martins- 
le -Grand ? That is, besiege them by a succession of* 
missives of a very polite and pungent character. I 
think they would comply." 

In July, 1855, after apologizing for delay in reply- 
ing to a letter from Mr. Kirby, he adds : 

" Every day during this time (a month) have I 
wrestled with Dr. Young's thief of time until in 
desperation I put the question, ' Shall I write now, 
or ever after keep silence ? ' and I have mustered 
firmness enough to seize my pen, exclaiming 'By 

G d, I will write.' I remember Uncle Toby's oath 

to Corporal Trim, and hope that this my offence 
will not be recorded against me.* 

" On the 14th December last I wrote to the Secretary 
of the Admiralty suggesting to their lordships that 
now, while building so many gun and mortar boats 
for the Black Sea and the Baltic, they might quickly 
and unostentatiously have a number of them so con- 
structed as to be passed through our canals into the 
Upper Lakes, so that on any emergency a fleet of 
them could, in less than one month, be sent from 



* Note. — I have quoted this in order to contradict the assertion 
made that FitzGibbon was in the habit of using strong expletives 
—assertions that have no foundation in truth, other than such 
instances of a quotation as above. He had seen the evil effects of 
swearing too often to indulge in it habitually. 



ENLARGEMENT OF CANALS. 325 

England into those lakes before the Americans could 
build one vessel of war in any harbor on the lakes, 
and our vessels could then and thereafter forever 
prevent their building one, their dock yards being 
all within range of our guns and mortars. 

" In about a month I received a note from the Secre- 
tary acknowledging my communication, and convey- 
ing their lordships thanks for it. 

" On receiving this answer, I wrote to my friend the 
Hon. John Young, one of the members for Montreal 
(who had sent me his pamphlet proposing the enlarge- 
ment of the Welland Canal for further mercantile 
accommodation), mentioning my correspondence with 
the Admiralty, and suggesting to him to have in view 
those gun and mortar boats, and to confer with the 
Admiralty, so that the increase in the size of the 
locks should be made to correspond with instructions 
from them as to the size of the boats. I have not 
since heard from Mr. Young. But now that the 
recent danger of war is passed (as I am confident it 
is) we should look far into the future, and quietly, 
without any display, make ample enlargement in our 
Canadian canals to let pass such boats as are now 
built, for thereby shall we be best able to repel all 
hostile aggression upon Upper Canada, at least. 

" Let us well defend that section, and it will ever 
be our best bulwark against all future aggression. 

" I am glad to see the good feelings now so cordially 
cultivated by the people residing on both sides of 
your extended frontier. May those feelings be con- 
tinually increased more and more. 

"I have long been convinced that the improvement 
and happiness of each of those communities will be 
better secured and more increased by keeping them 
apart than by any union or annexation whatever. 

"By exercising two different modes of government 



326 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

the field of experience will be greatly extended. Each 
party, or rather each government, may be warned by 
the errors of its neighbor, or encouraged to follow a 
good example wherever happily exhibited. 

" The. power of each will often be a salutary check 
upon the ambition, presumption or cupidity of the 
other. No sooner is the power of any nation become 
predominant than it becomes aggressive, and the 
usual result is war, with all its crimes, miseries and 
horrors. Better for the United States people that the 
provinces should become powerful, and thereby be a 
check upon the aggressive spirit of the men who 
from time to time administer their government, than 
that those men should be permitted to make war so 
that they and their followers and partizans may 
enrich and aggrandise themselves at the expense of 
their own country, and by the plunder and ruin of 
their neighbors. 

" Never heretofore has the world seen two nations 
so qualified to set a good example to all other nations 
as Great Britain and the United States ; and it ap- 
pears to me that nothing but the pride, ambition and 
cupidity of statesmen on either side can produce a 
war between them. But if the peoples severally will 
exercise due forethought, prescience, and discretion, 
they will firmly resist all measures tending to war 
between them. Hitherto the peoples of the nations 
were never sufficiently intelligent and co-operative as 
to exercise due control over those who governed them. 
Hence now the danger is great that they will not 
take the wisest course to constrain those govern- 
ments to act wisely. It is high time, however, that 
they should arouse themselves to assume that part 
which legitimately belongs to a people who are 
qualified to obey good government, and to control 
and regulate an erring one." 



ROYAL CANADIAN RIFLES. 327 

In these letters FitzGibbon dwells on many ques- 
tions of interest to Canada. The animosity between 
the two bodies, Roman Catholics and Orangemen ; 
the rapidly increasing taxation in England as tending 
to drive many men of moderate means to seek ex- 
emption from it in Canada, and the advantage to that 
country of including men of education and refine- 
ment with means among the emigrants to its un- 
settled but fertile localities ; the importance of 
strengthening the relations with the Mother Land by 
mutual understanding and consideration ; of Canada 
having a just appreciation of her value and of win- 
ning respect from her nearest neighbor by being ever 
in a position to repel invasion and to hold her own in 
any question of importance to both. He also asks 
for and refers to many friends on the Niagara 
frontier — among them an old " 49th " man. 

"Your paper of the 28th July, 1858, I received 
fourteen days after date(!), being the second time it 
has come in that short space, and each time by the 
Quebec packet. I see in it recorded the death of an 
old brother officer of mine in the '49th' — Mr. Garrett. 
I placed him at the head of one of the three advance 
companies on the morning of our attack on Mont- 
gomery's, on 7th December, 1837." 

A letter from Mr. Kirby, referring to the recent 
enrolment of the 100th Royal Canadian Rifles, 
prompts the following : 

" After much consideration I have enclosed your 
letter to the private secretary of the Commander-in- 



328 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Chief, the Duke of Cambridge, having first taken a 
copy of it and sent to Colonel the Baron de Rotten- 
berg. I think you will not be displeased at my thus 
making use of your letter. It is well written, and its 
tone and tenor are very honorable to you. Whatever 
impressions have been made heretofore in the minds 
of the Duke and the Colonel must be improved by 
its perusal." 

The following extract from a letter written by 
another " 49th man," to whom FitzGibbon had also 
sent a copy of Mr. Kirby's letter, is interesting in 
connection with FitzGibbon's endeavor to interest 
the Commander-in-Chief in the Canadian regiment. 

" Mr. Kirby's letter respecting the One Hundredth 
regiment is much to the purpose, and written in a 
good spirit. I think it has had some effect, for I see 
the Duke of Cambridge has been at Shorncliffe and 
reviewed the corps, which is a step in the right 
direction. To crown all, and completely to make up 
for past seeming neglect, the Queen should now 
present their colors with a few gracious words such 
as she knows how to speak, and then all would be 
right." 

Later, FitzGibbon adds, after the presentation of 
the colors to this regiment by H.RH. the Prince of 
Wales (January 13th, 1859) : 

" The Prince of Wales' Canadian Regiment has been 
most favorably brought into public notice. I hope 
that the good conduct of the regiment will hereafter 
become an example to be held up to the army at 
large, and have a salutary effect upon the other 



PATRIOTIC YOUTHS. 329 

regiments ; and who can tell how far other colonies 
may not contribute in like manner to the nation's 
power and defence ? Couple this idea with the build- 
ing of some half-dozen more leviathans as men of 
war, and see how all would be indissolubly linked 
together in prosperity and power." 

The publication of Mr. Kirby's historical poem, 
' The U. E. Loyalist," won much interest from Fitz- 
Gibbon. He endeavored to arrange for an English 
publisher, but without success. He ordered several 
copies to send to the old friends who had known 
Canada in 1812-14. 

On the 18th of October he writes : 

" Knowing so many of the defenders of the Niagara 
frontier during the war of 1812-13 and '14, I felt a 
strong desire to write to you during the month of 
September, and give you anecdotes of individuals 
whose zeal, devotion and personal bravery I witnessed. 
But I could not make the attempt, fearing that I could 
not now do them adequate justice. Having been on 
detached service in the army, my party afforded a 
rallying point for individual militiamen to present 
themselves whenever a collision of any kind was 
effected. Especially lads under twenty years of age 
came, with a cheerfulness and eagerness which de- 
lighted my own men and gave them a bravery of 
spirit which gratified me exceedingly to witness." 

Winding up his letter with the words, " This is all 

I can achieve at the present " — a reference to the 

oft reiterated regret at failing strength and shaking 

hands — FitzGibbon adds the characteristic wish, "and 

21 



3 CO A VETERAN OF 1812. 

you will please me by having my name always 
printed with a capital G." 

FitzGibbon was the friendly medium through 
whom copies • of Mr. Kirby 's books were conveyed to 
the Queen and the Prince of Wales. On March 31st, 
1860, he reports other correspondence with Colonel 
Phipps, Her Majesty's Secretary. 

" On the morning of the 27th inst., I received your 
letter of the 6th inst., the perusal of which so pleased 
me that I felt convinced the perusal of it by Colonel 
Phipps would be very pleasing to him also. I there- 
fore at once sent it to him by post, with a note from 
myself, of which the following is a copy : 

" 'Dear Sir, — I have this day received from Nia- 
gara the accompanying letter. I think the perusal of it 
will give you satisfaction. I have served in military 
and civil capacities in both the Canadas during forty - 
five years, and I entirely concur in what Mr. Kirby 
writes of the Canadian people. His description of 
them will, I am sure, be pleasing to you, therefore I 
send this letter to you, at the same time not think- 
ing that private communications like this are ever 
brought under the notice of Her Majesty. I hope you 
will not tax your time by acknowledging the receipt 
of Mr. Kirby 's letter, or even by returning it to me. 

' I am, etc., etc. 

' To Col. the Hon'ble Charles Phipps, 
Buckingham Palace.' 

" Yesterday I received a note which I did not 
expect, accompanied by your letter. I send you the 
note herewith rather than a copy of it. Your letter 



VISIT OF THE PRINCE OF WALES. 331 

was in his possession for two days, and I think it 
likely he laid it before Her Majesty and the Prince 
of Wales, for I may say it was beautifully written 
and could not fail to please them, now that the Prince 
has decided to visit Canada." 

On the 29th of September he writes : 

" I hope the Prince will get to Queenston, where 
it would rejoice me to be to join with my old 
Lincoln fellow campaigners, the Kirbys (if any 
remain), the Merritts, the Chisholms, and the many 
others whom I would gladly name. How much would 
I gladly write on those old times could I but do so." 

This was, however, the last letter of the corres- 
pondence which has been entrusted to me. I cannot 
but regret that one written after the Prince's return 
to Windsor is not among them, that thus we might 
have further corroborative evidence of his interest in 
securing to Mrs. Secord the honors, so justly her 
due, for her loyal efforts on June 23rd, 1813.* I 
refer to this more particularly as in a pamphlet 
recently published, the author, to prove his contention 
that Mrs. Secord did not walk the distance of nearly 
twenty miles to warn FitzGibbon on that memor- 
able day, mutilated the certificate given her by Fitz- 
Gibbon, which he professed to quote from three recog- 
nized authorities, by erasing the word twenty and 
substituting the word " twelve." Such action is un- 
worthy the pen of one claiming the name of historian. 

* See pages 81-84. 



332 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

Although FitzGibbon was in many skirmishes and 
engagements with the enemy, both in Holland and 
Canada, and ever sought the front ranks against the 
foe, I found among the matter from which the first 
edition of "A Veteran of 1812" was compiled no 
record of his ever having been wounded. 

Since the issue of the book, however, the follow- 
ing story has been given me by one who had it from 
my grandfather's lips : — 

One day while on detached duty, in June, 1813, 
I was alone in the bush, my principal object being to 
keep a vigilant watch on the enemy and prevent all 
communication between the two Forts, Erie and 
George. I and a certain number of my men acted as 
advance scouts. It was a close, warm day. I had 
walked several miles noiselessly, as was my habit, 
and as was necessary to avoid discovery. I stood a 
moment leaning against a tree. Although the sun 
was high there was deep shadow all about me, and 
the silence of mid-day in the Canadian woods. Pres- 
ently I became conscious of someone near me. I 
turned, and as I saw the figure of a man some yards 
from me, he fired. The ball struck me, and with a 
deadening sense* of numbness I staggered — it was but 
a second. My assailant turned and fled. Scarcely 
realizing my action, I pursued him over tangled 
underbrush and through the maze of tree trunks. 
Something caught his foot, he stumbled and fell. A 
moment and my hand was on his collar. He had 
dropped his piece in his fall, and with it in my other 



NARROW ESCAPE. 338 

hand I threatened to brain him with the stock. 
Winder* had heard the shot, and now came up. 
Between us the man was taken to camp, and after 
obtaining all the information of the enemy we could 
from him, we let him go. Later I heard he reported 
that no bullet would kill me, for the ball had certainly 
struck me. 

My friend Winder wished me to lie up and apply 
for leave, for I was so bruised and stiff as to find 
difficulty in moving about for a day or two. I would 
not, however, as had I done so another man would 
have been put in my place, and I therefore lose the 
opportunity of doing good service. Why had the 
ball not killed me ? Winder and I went to the spot 
where the shot was fired, and found that the ball had 
first penetrated the stem of a young sapling. This, 
with the thickness of my tunic, and my action in 
turning, had probably saved my life. This was the 
only wound I ever received. 

I have used the first person to tell the story as 
nearly as possible in FitzGibbon's own words. Dur- 
ing the riot in Toronto, on July 12th, 1834 (see page 
176), FitzGibbon speaks of his efforts to quell it, and 
being ably assisted by several of the magistrates. 
Referring to this an old resident of Toronto told me 
that he well remembered the day. 

" Colonel FitzGibbon was a fine, strono- bier man 
He went into the crowd with a quiet smile on his 

* Lieut. Winder, 49th. 



:J34 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

face, gave his orders with determination, and where- 
ever he was disobeyed or caught men fighting, he just 
took them by the collar and put them into the jail 
hard by. I saw him and Colonel Higginson put as 
many as thirty of the worst rioters inside the jail 
doors that day, and they weren't a bit flurried, 
neither." 

The kind act of Her Majesty, referred to on page 
272, was a grant of a small pension to FitzGibbon's 
only daughter, that in case of his death she might be 
provided for. She lived but a short time to enjoy it, 
but it procured for her many invalid comforts and 
luxuries otherwise unattainable. It also enabled Fitz- 
Gibbon to take her to Dublin, where she died and was 
buried beside her kin in the old churchyard at Irish- 
town. A great grey slab to the left of the main 
entrance door marks the spot. 

FitzGibbon was a strong advocate of the value of 
physical drill to a soldier, and the present day regime 
would delight him. 

When quartered in Quebec, he saw how the men on 
guard suffered from the cold. Knowing that action 
alone would keep the blood circulating, and that the 
monotonous pacing to and fro was not sufficient, he 
invented a system of physical drill that might be 
practised even in the sentry box. A large man him- 
self, the need of exercise was imperative, and, taught 
by experience, he endeavored to thus benefit others. 
During his last visit to Dublin he stayed with his 
brother in Merrion Square. The square being reserved 



VIGOROUS SWORD PLAY 335 

for the residents, he would take his sword, let himself 
in, and seeking the most secluded spot, practise the 
sword exercise for an hour, not always without an 
admiring audience of boys. One morning, the 
weather being unusually bad, his brother bade him 
take his exercise indoors "if he must have it." Piling; 
the chairs on the library table that he might have 
sufficient space, FitzGibbon obeyed, while the lawyer 
heedless of the swinging sound of the old soldier's 
sword play, speedily became absorbed in the intrica- 
cies of a case then before his court. 

A crash ! He turned to see a heavy but thin-legged 
chair, one of its legitimate supports neatly severed, 
lying prone on the ground, while the swordsman 
paused aghast at the result of a more than usually 
energetic lunge. Is it a wonder that the startled 
owner bade him " go practise his — gymnastics on the 
street"? 

The mutilated chair was extant for many years, and 
its story the delight of FitzGibbon's great-nieces and 
nephews, who reproached his biographer for omit- 
ting it. 

In some of his latest letters to his nephews, Fitz- 
Gibbon speaks of having invented a series of exercises 
which he could practise in bed, " for being now so 
feeble I cannot rise very early. These serve to keep 
the blood circulating freely, and conduce greatly to 
my physical health." 

In one of FitzGibbon's letters to his Guernsey 
friend, Mr. Ferdinand Brock Tupper, he so epitomizes 



336 A VETERAN OF 1812. 

his own character, that I cannot do better than close 
this chapter with the quotation. Apropos of the 
lamentable lack of energetic men and minds at a 
period of national importance, he writes: 

" The dread of responsibility appears to me to be 
the most prevailing evil of the day. Surely it were 
better to fail in nobly daring to achieve great objects 
than thus meanly to shrink from difficult duties." 



APPENDICES. 



APPENDIX I. 

When the policy of the French Directory, 1798, turned their ambi- 
tion to still further conquest and aggression, Holland was the first 
victim of the Republican ambition. They had revolutionized that 
ancient commonwealth, expelled the Stadtholder, and compelled its 
rulers to enter into a costly and ruinous war to support the interests 
of France, and though their engagements had been performed with 
fidelity, they determined to subject them to a convulsion of the same 
nature as that which had been terminated in France by the 18th 
Fructidor. 

The Dutch, having had an opportunity of contrasting the old 
regime with the new, were now ripe for a return to the former. 
The French Directory saw this leaning to old institutions with 
disquietude. They recalled their minister from the Hague, and 
replaced him by a man of known democratic principles, with in- 
structions to overthrow the ancient Federal Constitution, overturn 
the aristocracy and vest the Government in a directory of democratic 
principles entirely devoted to the interests of France. 

Obedience to these instructions soon robbed the inhabitants of 
Holland of all their ancient liberties. Antagonism to the directors 
became so pronounced as to rouse the fears of France lest it should 
undermine their influence in Holland. To prevent this, General 
Daendels was ordered to take military possession of the government. 

While Napoleon's operations and desperate conflicts had been 
going on in the south of Europe, England had roused herself from 
the state of inactivity in which she had been held through her own 
want of confidence in her military powers, and an expedition was 



APPENDICES. 

prepared more in proportion to her station in the war as one of the 
allied powers than any she had hitherto projected. 

Holland was selected both as being the country nearest British 
shores in the hand of the enemy, and as the one where the most 
vigorous opposition might be expected from the inhabitants. 

The treaty between Russia and England of June 22nd, 1798, 
stipulated that the latter should provide 25,000 men for the descent 
on Holland. To re-establish the Stadtholder, and terminate the 
revolutionary tyranny under which that opulent country groaned ; 
to form the nucleus of an army which might threaten the northern 
provinces of France, and restore the barrier which had been so 
insanely destroyed by the Emperor Joseph ; to effect a diversion in 
favor of the great armies then fighting on the Rhine, and destroy 
the ascendancy of the Republicans in the Maritime Provinces and 
naval arsenals of the Dutch, were the objects proposed in this expe- 
dition. The preparations were such as to extort the admiration of 
French historians. The harbors of England resounded with the 
noise and excitement of the embarkation. The first division sailed 
on the 13th of August, but, delayed by contrary winds, only anchored 
off the Helder, North Holland, on the 27th ; disembarked under Sir 
Ralph Abercrombie, and were met by General Daendels at the head 
of 12,000 men, opposed to 2,500. A well-directed fire from the ships 
carried disorder into the ranks of the Republicans, and drove them 
back to the sand-hills, from which they were expelled by the British 
by six in the evening. The Dutch evacuated the Fort at the Helder 
during the night, and the British occupied it the following day. 

The Russian troops not arriving, the English commander was 
obliged to remain on the defensive, which gave the Republicans 
time to collect their forces, 25,000 in all, of which 7,000 were French, 
under General Brune, who had assumed the command-in-chief . He 
determined to attack the British, and on September 10th, all the 
columns were in motion. 

Vandamme, who commanded the right, was directed to move 
along the Langdyke, and make himself master of Ernnsginberg ; 
Damonceau, with the centre, was to march by Schorldam upon 
Krabbenham, and there force the key of the position ; while the left 
was charged with the difficult task of chasing the British from the 
Sand-dyke, and penetrating by Kampto Petten. Restricted to the 



APPENDICES. 

dykes and causeways intersecting in different directions a low, 
swampy ground, the engagement consisted of detached conflicts at 
isolated points, rather than any general movement ; and, like the 
struggle between Napoleon and the Austrians in the marshes of 
Areola, was to be determined chiefly by the intrepidity of the heads of 
columns. Repulsed at all points, the French resumed their position 
at Alkmaar. On September the 12th and 13th, the Russians, 17,000 
strong, and 700 British arrived, and the Duke of York assumed the 
command. On the 19th, the Russian advance was defeated, and 
though the Duke of York advanced to their support, the Allies were 
obliged to retire to their fortified line and evacuate Schorl. In this 
battle the Republicans lost 3,000 in killed, wounded and prisoners ; 
the British, 500 killed and wounded, and as many prisoners ; the 
Russians, 3,500, besides twenty-six pieces of cannon and seven stan- 
dards. 

The Duke of York, being reinforced by a fresh brigade of Rus- 
sians and some English detachments, again assumed the offensive, 
but the heavy rains prevented an attack until October 2nd. Alkmaar 
was abandoned by the Republicans. 

Despite this success, the prospect was not encouraging to the 
British commander. The enemy's force was daily increasing, while 
no reinforcements were coming to him. The heavy rains which 
set in with unusual violence made the roads impassable for artillery. 
The expected movements of the Batavian troops in favor of the 
House of Orange had not taken place, the climate was affecting the 
health of the British troops, and it was evident that, unless some 
important place could be captured, it would be impossible to remain 
in North Holland. 

Haarlem was decided upon as the most likely to furnish the 
necessary supplies. To this end an attack was made on the French 
on the narrow isthmus between Beverick and the Zuyder Zee. The 
battle was well contested, the loss being nearly equal on both sides, 
and though the honors remained with the Allies, they were obliged 
to retreat and fall back upon the intrenchments at Zype. On the 
7th, they retired to the position they had occupied before Bergen, 
and the Republicans, on the 8th, resumed their position in front of 
Alkmaar. 

An armistice was signed on October 17th, the principal terms 



APPENDICES. 

being that the Allies should evacuate Holland by the end of Novem- 
ber ; that 8,000 prisoners, whether French or Dutch, should be 
restored, and that the works of the Helder should be given up 
entire, with all their artillery. 

Before December 1st, all three conditions were fulfilled, the 
British troops had regained the shores of England, and the Russians 
were quartered in Jersey and Guernsey. (Condensed from "Ali- 
son's Europe.") 



APPENDIX II. 



Extract from the Returns of the 49th, during the six months from 
the 13th November to 31st May, 1811 : 



Private Patrick Lallagan. 
26th Jan., 1811. 

13th Feby. 



Edward Marraly. 
15th Nov., 1810. 



John Turner. 
4th April. 



Deficient of frill, part of his regimental 
necessaries. 

Sentenced 100 ; inflicted — 

Deficient of a razor, part of his regi- 
mental necessaries, and for produc- 
ing at an inspection of his necessaries 
a razor belonging to Private James 
Rooney, thereby attempting to de- 
ceive the inspecting officer. 

Sentenced 200 ; inflicted 100. 

Also to be put under stoppages of 1/ 
per week until the razor is replaced. 

For being deficient of a shirt, part of 

regimental necessaries. 
Sentenced 200 ; inflicted 75. 

For having in his possession some pease 
for which he cannot honestly account, 
and for making an improper use of 
the barrack bedding. 

Sentenced 400 ; inflicted 250. 



APPENDICES. 

Corporal Francis Doran. An accusation made by some married 
28th March. men of his having defrauded their 

wives of part of the bread issued for 
them, between the 25th of Feb. and 
24th March, is sentenced to 100 
lashes, which, however, appear not 
to have been inflicted, but a weekly 
stoppage of 1/6 until the quantity of 
bread, valued at 2/7 currency, was 
recovered, was deemed sufficient. 

There are numerous entries of "Drunk 
before dinner although confined to 
barracks." 

Sentenced 150 ; 100 inflicted. 

"Drunk before morning parade al- 
though confined to barracks." Sen- 
tenced 200 ; 150 inflicted. 

"Quitting the barracks without leave 
after tattoo." Sentenced 300 ; 295 
inflicted. 
[Is it anything to be wondered at that the men deserted ?] 



APPENDIX III. 

The lot of land referred to on page 59 was situated in the Town- 
ship of Tecumseh, in the Home District, and Province of Upper 
Canada. 



APPENDIX IV. 

In September, 1812, the Americans learned that a number of bateaux 
were coming up the river, laden with supplies, the party being 
under the command of Adjutant FitzGibbon. A gunboat and also a 
Durham boat were fitted out at Ogdensburg, and despatched to 
intercept and capture the British expedition and stores. 



APPENDICES. 

Leaving Ogdensburg late at night, the enemy landed on Tous- 
saint Island, near where the bateaux lay. The only family on the 
island was seized, with the exception of a man, who, being a staunch 
defender of the British flag, made his escape, and by swimming 
reached the Canadian shore. The alarm given, the militia rallied, 
and when the Yankees made the attack they met with such a hot 
reception that they abandoned the Durham boat, which drifted 
down the river and fell into the hands of the Canadians. About 
sunrise the gunboat came to anchor, and was immediately fired 
upon. At the second discharge five of the eighteen on board were 
wounded, but before a third volley could be delivered, the remain- 
der brought a cannon to bear on the Canadian boats, which were 
compelled to move out of range, being provided only with small 
arms. The Americans then beat a hasty retreat for Ogdensburg. 
("History of Leeds and Grenville," p. 34.) 



APPENDIX V. 

Montreal Gazette, Tuesday, July 6th, 1813 : "Intelligence of tht, 
last week from the seat of war in Canada is not of a sanguinary 
nature ; but, however, it is not the less interesting, and we have 
much pleasure in communicating to the public the particulars of a 
campaign, not of a general with his thousands or his hundreds, but 
of a lieutenant with his tens only. The manner in which a bloodless 
victory was obtained by a force so comparatively and almost in- 
credibly small, with that of the enemy, the cool determination and 
the happy presence of mind evinced by this highly meritorious 
officer, in conducting the operations incident to the critical situation 
in which he was placed, with his little band of heroes, and the 
brilliant result which crowned these exertions, will, while they 
make known to the world the name of Captain FitzGibbon, reflect 
new lustre, if possible, on the well-earned reputation of the gallant 
49th Regiment, and class this event with the most extraordinary 
occurrences of the present accursed war. 

" We shall at present make no further comment, but refer our 
readers to the following details of Mr. FitzGibbon's operations, as 



APPENDICES. 

communicated to us by a friend who had the particulars from the 
best authority : 

" ' Immediately after the gallant affair of our advance on the 6th 
ultimo, Lieut. FitzGibbon made application to General Vincent to 
be employed separately with a small party of the 49th Regiment, 
and in such a manner as he might think most expedient. The oner 
was accepted, and this little band has since been constantly ranging 
between the two armies. Many events would naturally occur on 
such a service which would be interesting, but are necessarily pre- 
scribed in our limits of details, and we will confine ourselves to two 
very extraordinary occurrences. About the 20th ultimo, Lieut. 
FitzGibbon went in pursuit of forty-six vagabonds, volunteer 
cavalry, brought over by a Dr. Chapin from Buffalo, and who had 
been for some time plundering the inhabitants round Fort Erie and 
Chippewa ; he came near to them at Lundy's Lane, about a mile 
below the Falls, but discovered that they had been joined by 150 
infantry. As his force was but forty-four muskets, he did not 
think it advisable to attack, and therefore his party was kept con- 
cealed. He, however, rode into the village at the ending of the 
Lane, dressed in grey, to reconnoitre, but could not perceive the 
enemy. Mrs. Kirby, who knew him, ran out, and begged him to 
ride off, for that some of the enemy's troops were in a house at a 
short distance. He saw a horse at a door, and supposing that there 
were none but his rider in the house, he dismounted and approached 
it, when an infantry soldier advanced and presented his piece at 
him. He made a spring at him, seized his musket, and desired him 
to surrender, but the American resisted and held fast. At this 
instant a rifleman jumped from the door with his rifle presented at 
FitzGibbon's shoulder, who was so near to him that he seized the 
rifle below the muzzle and pulled it under his arm, keeping its 
muzzle before him and that of the other musket behind him. In 
this situation, Lieut. FitzGibbon called upon two men who were 
looking on, to assist him in disarming the two Americans, but they 
would not interfere. Poor Mrs. Kirby, apparently distracted, used 
all her influence, but in vain. The rifleman, finding he could not 
disengage his piece, drew FitzGibbon's own sword out of its 
scabbard with his left hand, with the intention of striking at him, 

when another woman, a Mrs. Defield, seized the uplifted arm, and 

19. 



APPENDICES. 

wrested the sword from his grasp. At this moment an elderly man 
named Johnston came up and forced the American from his hold of 
the rifle, and Lieut. FitzGibbon immediately laid the other soldier 
prostrate. A young boy of thirteen years, a son of Dr. Fleming, 
was very useful in the struggle, which lasted some minutes. Lieut. 
FitzGibbon, thus relieved, lost not a moment in carrying off his 
two prisoners and the horse, as the enemy's force were within two 
hundred yards of him, searching a house round a turn in the road. 

"'At seven o'clock on the morning of the 24th ult., Lieut. F. 
received a report that the enemy was advancing from St. David's, 
with about a thousand men and four pieces of cannon, to attack 
the stone house in which he was quartered at Beaver Dam. About 
an hour afterwards he heard the report of cannon and musketry. 
He rode off to reconnoitre, and found the enemy engaged with a 
party of Indians, who hung upon his flanks and rear, and galled him 
severely. 

" ' Lieut. F. despatched an officer for his men, and by the time of 
their arrival the enemy had taken up a position on an eminence at 
same distance from the woods in front. He estimated the enemy's 
strength at 600 men and two field-pieces — a 12 and a 6-pounder. 
To make the appearance of cutting off his retreat, Lieut. F. passed 
at the charge-step across the front to gain the other flank under a 
quick fire from his guns, which however did not the slightest injury. 
He took post behind some woods, and saw the Indians were making 
very little of the enemy, and it would have been madness in him, 
with forty-four muskets, to dash at them across open fields, where 
every man he had could be so easily perceived. 

" 'Many of the Indians were at this time taking themselves off, 
and he began to think of his own retreat. He had a hope, however, 
that Colonel De Haren would soon join him ; but fearing the enemy 
would drive him off, or make good his retreat, he determined to 
play the old soldier, and summon the enemy to surrender. He tied 
up his handkerchief and advanced, with his bugles sounding "Cease 
firing." A flag was sent to him by a Captain McDonald of the 
Artillery. Lieut. F. stated that he was sent by Colonel De Haren 
to demand their surrender, and to offer them protection from the 
Indians, adding that a number had just joined from the North-West 
who could not be controlled, and he wished to prevent the effusion 



APPENDICES. 



at Fort George, which he always resisted, because the position and 
means of the enemy enabled him to reinforce with far greater 
facility than the American army could." 



APPENDIX VI. 

HINTS TO A SON ON RECEIVING HIS FIRST COM- 
MISSION IN A REGIMENT SERVING IN THE 
CANADAS. 

BY AN OLD WOODSMAN. 

The troops should be drilled in the woods, most frequently by com- 
panies, and occasionally in greater numbers. Without much prac- 
tice they cannot have much confidence in themselves or in one 
another, and must, through ignorance, greatly expose themselves to 
the enemy's fire. 

In 1814, the 6th and 82nd Regiments joined Sir George Drum- 
mond's division of the army before Fort Erie, and in the first affair 
with the enemy in the woods they lost many more men than any 
other corps present, because they knew not how to cover them- 
selves. For several days afterwards the men of these regiments 
were mixed with the files of the Glengarry Light Infantry, a pro- 
vincial corps, until they acquired some skill and experience in the 
woods. 

I will state here thus early that I consider the rifle in the woods, 
as well as in the open ground, a contemptible weapon. I do not 
hesitate to say, " Let all my enemies be armed with rifles." With 
the musket and bayonet, British troops have only to advance 
instantly after the first fire, and they may hunt the enemy through 
the woods without pause or rest. 

The rifle I consider of peculiar value only when used in places 
inaccessible ; but in the woods, where the men must run, either 
after their enemy or from him, the blood must circulate freely, the 
men must become excited, and then there is an end to perfect 
steadiness in taking aim, and the least inaccuracy reduces the rifle 



APPENDICES. 

in this respect to the level of the musket, while it is in all other 
respects far inferior to it. 

The soldier should fire to the right of the tree ; thus a very small 
section of his head and right arm and shoulder is exposed. I have 
known an officer to tap his servant on the shoulder, and exclaim, 
"Fire from the other side of the tree, you blockhead," but the 
words were hardly spoken before the servant was shot dead. 

The soldier, when advancing, should not go straight forward, but 
at an angle to some tree to the right or left of the one he quits ; 
because it is much easier for his enemy to hit him coming directly 
towards him than if he runs at a considerable angle. So also in 
retreating, he should run to the right or left, having in each case 
previously fixed his eye upon the tree to which he intends to run ; 
and if he can fire to advantage before he quits the tree that covers 
him, so much the better, as the smoke may conceal his retreat, and 
his enemy will not know where next to find him until he fires again. 

An enemy is most readily discovered in the woods by looking for 
him as low down as possible beneath the branches of the trees. The 
reverse of this would, however, be the fact where much underwood 
grew, or in a copse. The moving of a branch or young tree will 
often show the place of an enemy. 

The greatest attention and care are required from every man to 
preserve his distance from his neighbor, and to keep in the general 
line as much as circumstances will permit. It is impossible to do 
so exactly, but much practice will give both experience and confi- 
dence, and with the active aid of experienced officers and sergeants 
the forest may be scoured in fine style by well-practised men with 
musket and bayonet, acting against riflemen, or against any descrip- 
tion of American troops, inexperienced as they all, officers as well 
as men, must be for many years after the commencement of a war. 

A company should be practised to close to the centre or any 
other point, and to dash through the enemy's line, and then wheel 
by subdivisions to the right or left, and rush along upon the flanks 
and rear of his position. Rout and confusion of the enemy may 
be confidently expected as the result of such an onset, which should 
be executed with the greatest possible rapidity. 

After much practice, rapidity of evolution cannot be too strongly 
recommended. It gives to the attacking party the highest degree 



APPENDICES. 

of blood. The captain went back to his commanding officer, Lieut. - 
Col. Bcerstler, and soon after returned saying that Colonel B. did 
not consider himself defeated, and could not surrender. Lieut. F. 
proposed that Colonel Bterstler shoiild send an officer to see Colonel 
De Haren's force, when he would be better able to judge of the neces- 
sity. He soon returned with a proposal that Colonel B. should him- 
self be shown the British, and if he found the force such as to justify 
his surrender, he would do so. To this, Lieut. F. said he would 
return to Colonel De Haren with Colonel B.'s proposal. 

The real intention of showing the enemy our small force never 
existed, but appearances must be kept up. Upon his return Lieut. 
F. found that a Captain Hall with twelve Dragoons had just arrived. 
He told him what had passed, and asked him to assume the rank of 
Colonel for the occasion. Lieut. F. then returned and stated that 
Colonel Hall, being now the senior officer on the spot, did not think 
it regular to let the enemy see his force, but that it was perfectly 
ample to compel the surrender. From motives of humanity, five 
minutes would be allowed for acquiescence, and if refused hostilities 
would recommence at the expiration of this period. Colonel B. agreed 
to surrender on condition that the officers should retain their horses, 
arms and baggage, and that the militia and volunteers (among whom 
were Dr. Chapin and his marauders) should be permitted to return 
to the States on parole. 

" ' When the extent of our force is considered, it is no wonder that 
these conditions were immediately acceded to. Lieut. F. at this 
moment most opportunely met with Colonel Clarke, of Chippewa, who 
came galloping up, and who proceeded to assist him in disarming 
the enemy, as Colonel Hall could not appear, and his only officer (an 
ensign) must remain with his men. 

' ' ' Colonel De Haren immediately afterwards appeared with the 
flank companies of the 104th Regiment, and the whole affair was soon 
settled, thus putting into our possession twenty-six officers, one 
12-pounder and one 6-pounder, two caissons and two wagons, and 
above five hundred prisoners, including about twenty Dragoons. 
Had not Colonel De Haren arrived at that moment, this large num- 
ber of the enemy would have yielded to forty-three soldiers of the 
49th, for all the arrangements were made previous to the arrival of 
that officer. The Indians behaved well ; they killed and wounded 



APPENDICES. 

during theii sKirmishing about fifty of the enemy. We are informed 
that at the moment of the surrender many of the Indians had gone 
off — the number engaged did not exceed eighty. Thus terminated 
a bloodless victory on our part. If promotion and reward await 
the officer selected to be the bearer of despatches announcing an 
enemy's defeat, we cannot doubt but that the hero of this achieve- 
ment will receive that favor from his sovereign to which his ser- 
vices have established so just a claim, and who, we believe, has no 
other patrbnage but his own distinguished merit.' " 

In another column in the same issue of the Gazette is the following : 
"On Saturday last arrived in this city four officers and one hun- 
dred and nineteen non-commissioned officers and privates, forming 
part of the American prisoners captured on the 24th ult. by the 
gallant Lieut. FitzGibbon and his small party of the 49th Regiment, 
in the advance of our army under General Vincent. They embarked 
yesterday evening on board the steamboat for Quebec, under the 
guard of Capt. Renvoisez, of the 3rd Battalion of the incorporated 
militia. The remainder arrived this morning in bateaux." 



From the Report of the Court-martial held to enquire into the cause 
of Boerstler's surrender, held at Baltimore, 17th February, 1815 : 

" The detachment was ordered to lay at Queenston on the night 
of the 23rd, and to march early the next morning. It did so, lay- 
ing upon its arms and in silence without lights, and having taken 
precautions to avoid surprise and preventing the country people 
from carrying intelligence to the enemy. 

"Before eight and nine o'clock, morning of 24th, at a place 
called 'Beaver Dams,' a mile and a half in advance of DeCou's. De 
Cou's stone house seventeen and a half miles from Fort George via 
Queenston, and sixteen via St. Catharines. 

" That the surrender was justified by existing circumstances, and 
that the misfortune of the day is not to be ascribed to Lieut. -Col. 
Boerstler or the detachment under his command." 

From Major-General Lewis' deposition : 

" He had been frequently pressed to send a detachment to the 
vicinity of the Beaver Dams during the latter days of his command 



APPENDICES. 

of animation and confidence, while it creates surprise and panic 
among inexperienced defenders. 

The Indians, when retreating and coming to a ravine, do not at 
once cross the ravine and defend from the brow of the side or hill 
looking over the ravine to the pursuing enemy ; they suddenly 
throw themselves down immediately behind the bank they first 
come to, and thence fire on their pursuers, who must then be 
entirely exposed, while the Indian exposes his head only, and when 
pressed and compelled to abandon his position, he fires and retires, 
covered by the smoke and the bank, so that his pursuers cannot tell 
the course of his retreat, whether to the right or the left, or directly 
to the rear, which last the Indian may now do with comparative 
safety, being for a short time hid by the bank from the view of his 
pursuer, until he, the pursuer, arrives at the brow of the bank, by 
which time the Indian has, most probably, taken post in a new 
position, where he can only be discovered by his next fire. 

If an Indian be pursued from post to post, and obliged at length 
to fly for his life, and if his pursuers still press upon him until he 
becomes exhausted, he then looks for some thick cover wherein to 
hide himself, and there takes shelter. Should the pursuers come 
near to his place of concealment and be likely to discover him, then, 
as a last resource, he closes his eyes, not because he will not look at 
the upraised tomahawk, but because it is possible that the glisten- 
ing of his eye may betray him, when, but for it, he may remain 
undiscovered. 

I recommend that an intelligent Indian be attached to each regi- 
ment for a sufficient time to teach all his lessons — of which these 
now stated are a few — to the officers and sergeants. 

Before the termination of the late American war, which ended in 
1815, I had a scheme in contemplation of which the following is an 
outline : 

I intended to have asked for leave to raise a corps of three hun- 
dred men, the officers and men to be chosen or approved by me 
only ; to be clothed in grey, not green (grey, being the nearest to 
the color of the bark of the forest trees, is least discernible) ; the 
caps to be of the same cloth as the dress; the jackets and caps 
to have loops sewn on them of the same colored tape, and so placed 
as when filled with small sprigs of foliage or even single leaves, 



APPENDICES. 

that the whole body from the waist upwards would have the appear- 
ance of a bush. Men so disguised and well trained, and well posted 
in the woods, could not be discovered until they would fire upon an 
advancing enemy. This fire must be carefully withheld until an 
enemy comes so near that almost every shot will tell. Under the 
cover of the smoke, after firing, the rank in front might rapidly 
retire any given number of paces behind the rank already posted in 
the rear, and which rank in rear could not be discovered until the 
enemy was again fired upon. 

Now, I hold that there is a certain quantum of fire against which 
no troops will stand, and a second discharge so destructive as I sup- 
pose this fire must be would certainly drive back an enemy ; but if 
disorder only, or even mere hesitation, were seen among the enemy, 
and an instant sound of "advance " were given, and a prompt dash 
made, the flight of an enemy must inevitably follow. 

Under such circumstances, I repeat it, I hold the rifle in great 
contempt ; and I would most sedulously inculcate and impress this 
opinion on the minds of my own men. I would make them rejoice 
in their own musket and bayonet, and laugh in derision at the far- 
praised American rifleman, and all his boasted skill in shooting 
squirrels and wild turkeys. 

The greatest pains should be taken by officers and sergeants, to 
acquire a thorough knowledge of their every duty down to the very 
minutest particular, and every proper opportunity should be seized 
to let the men see that this knowledge was possessed in a high 
degree by them. The men rejoice in following such, knowing and 
feeling how much their own success, and even safety, depends upon 
a proper exercise of skill, discretion and cool courage by their 
leaders. The soldier, once convinced of his leader's good qualities, 
promptly obeys him, because he feels that his own safety is best 
secured by his doing so. I have sometimes spoken in the following 
words to the young officers around me : " That officer is not per- 
fectly qualified to command who could not make a soldier run his 
head into an enemy's great gun, upon being commanded by him to 
do so." Such an order firmly given by a good and a beloved officer 
to his well-trained soldiers, would be, I have no doubt, heroically 
obeyed. Such officers only can make soldiers achieve brilliant 
actions. One of the most efficient means of winning the highest 



APPENDICES. 

degree of the soldier's good-will and confidence is by carefully keep- 
ing him out of every unnecessary danger, and often going yourself to 
reconnoitre, rather- than to send another to do so. A partisan 
officer gains another great advantage by going himself : he sees with 
his own eyes, and can therefore best decide what should next be 
done, or he can report far more accurately to his general or other 
officer commanding, than from any statement made by another to 
himself. 

I applied for and obtained leave to select fifty men from the 
regiment to which I belonged, and was employed in advance of the 
centre division of the army on the Niagara frontier in 1813. Having 
three sergeants, I divided the party into three sections. For the 
purpose of facilitating our movements in the vicinity of the enemy 
in the woods at night, and perhaps even to enable me to pass through 
his line of posts unobserved, I purchased three cow-bells of different 
sizes and tones, and placed one in charge of each sergeant. By the 
tinkling of one or more of these bells I proposed to deceive an 
enemy by leading him to believe that cows only were near him 
(cows in the forest usually have bells hung round their necks), 
whereas the bugle, whistle or word of command nr'ght expose us. 
Thus, too, by previously concerted sounds the several sections could 
be kept together, and enabled to move in any direction in connec- 
tion with each other at night through the woods. This was not 
reduced to practice, but I nevertheless hold it to be practicable, 
and may be useful. 

At one time I ascertained that the enemy's cavalry horses were 
picketed on the Niagara common in front of Fort George. I pro- 
posed during the night to take twenty of the most active of my fifty 
chosen men, and rush through the outer pickets and run directly 
to the horses and stab as many as possible ; and, lastly, each man 
to spring upon a horse and gallop out by the road to Queenston. 
The enemy's picket on that road could not suppose that we were 
enemies until we had already passed through them, and beyond the 
range of their fire. Before I could carry this plan into effect, I was 
suddenly ordered off in another direction, and the opportunity was 
lost. Desperate, perhaps foolish, as this attempt may appear, yet 
I had very sanguine hopes of success. The locality was perfectly 
known to us. We had an inexperienced enemy before us, who could 



APPENDICES. 

not readily be brought back into good order from panic and confu- 
sion, and especially at night ; and I had men who could appreciate 
the work they had to do, and who were taught to rejoice in being 
able to accomplish what other men would not think of even attempt- 
ing. I was not insensible to the feeling of reluctance which arose 
out of the consideration of destroying the horses ; and I mention 
this to avail myself of the opportunity it affords of recommending 
to you, and through you to your men, the cultivation and exercise 
of humanity as one of the noblest attributes in the character of a 
soldier. 

One day, while in the vicinity of Fort George, which the enemy 
occupied with 6,000 men, a thunder-storm came on, with torrents 
of rain. It fell in sheets, so that neither a gun nor a musket could 
be fired a second time. Had our division of the army, then ten 
miles distant, been near, it could have marched in and swept the 
whole of the American position at the point of the bayonet, for 
the works were then accessible at almost every point. The enemy 
would not then have dreamt of being attacked during the storm ; 
they would have been taken by surprise, while our men, rejoicing 
in their advantage, would rapidly have carried all before them. 
For many weeks the division did not approach the enemy nearer 
than three miles, and at such a distance no prompt advantage could 
be taken of any error on his part, or of any fortuitous circum- 
stance, and these should always be looked for with most untiring 
watchfulness. 

Therefore, if possible, always keep within striking distance of 
your enemy, especially if he be inexperienced. If he press too 
severely upon you, retire ; if he halt, do you halt also ; if he retire, 
follow him ; if he blunder, smite him. He cannot surround you if 
you take due piecaution. 

Knowing that the enemy had extensive barracks and stores at 
Black Rock, I marched my party by night to where the village of 
Waterloo now stands, near Fort Erie, and concealed them in barns 
during daylight. While next day examining the enemy's number 
and condition with my glass, and carefully concealed, for they did 
not yet expect us back to the frontier, the officer commanding our 
advance, with his Staff- Adjutant and a Colonel of Militia, quite 
unexpected by me, walked up in full view of the Americans, and, 



APPENDICES. 

over trenches and brooks supported by it, and also over fallen trees 
and other obstacles. After much practice with it, I thought most 
favorably of it in many points of view. One dark and rainy night 
an alarm was given, and the troops were marched to their respective 
alarm posts. It occurred to me to carry this pike with me to help 
in the darkness, and I did so. Almost every man in my company 
fell down at least once, some of them many times, while we were 
marching ; with the aid of the pike I went along with confidence 
and safety. After much reflection, I considered it a weapon of 
great value for particular purposes. For example, a small body of 
men, say fifty, well selected, well trained, well led, with patrols or 
counter-signs, or other signals carefully chosen, and particularly 
adapted to the occasion, might rush through an enemy's outposts 
and into his camp — I do not mean an entrenched or fortified camp, 
but one taken up for the night only — and traverse it in every direc- 
tion, killing and routing all before them. The enemy would soon be 
in utter confusion, especially if composed of inexperienced troops. 
Their fire would be quite at random, and probably be more destruc- 
tive to one another, while it lasted, than to the attackers. It 
should be most strongly impressed upon the minds of your men that 
fire at night does amazingly little execution. The experience of the 
night affair at Stony Creek, in June, 1813, planned by, and executed 
under, the direction of Sir John Harvey, would have been of great 
value to me had the war continued and opportunities been afforded 
me of making night attacks. I think fighting at night has never 
been practised to one-tenth of the extent to which it is possible to 
carry it. Charging with the bayonet or pike by day, and with the 
pike only by night, may be carried, as I firmly believe, to an extent 
which has not yet been imagined, or very rarely imagined. Here 
is, I think, a splendid field to practise in. Become an adjutant if 
you can ; drill your own men in your own way ; devise new expedi- 
ents whereby you may teach men easily and rapidly ; know them 
well, and let them know you well, and if you arrive at the command 
of a regiment so trained by yourself, and an opportunity offer for 
trying your men, you may add a new chapter to the art of war. 
Remember my opinion, often expressed in your hearing, that no two 
corps have ever yet crossed bayonets in battle. Rush upon your 



APPENDICES. 

enemy and he will surely fly. Let your men never be permitted to 
doubt this great truth, for such I am confident it is. 

Should you obtain the command of a company, I recommend you to 
set apart a place in the company's arm-chest for two or more pikes, 
broad swords, small swords (foils, I mean), sticks and baskets, boxing- 
gloves, cricket-bats, quoits. Obtain leave from your commanding 
officer to keep your company off duty one day in a week, or even 
one in a month. March them in fatigue dress to a neighboring field 
or play-ground. Let them run races, jump, leap, wrestle, use the 
pike, sword, stick, cricket-bat, quoits, as each may desire or you 
direct. Swimming should also be practised. Manage by some 
means to have a stock purse from which to give prizes to the victors 
in each exeixuse or play. All this I consider compatible with main- 
taining the most perfect authority over your men, and, if well 
conducted and managed, will increase their respectful regard for 
you. Be kind and condescending, but never, no, not once, be 
flippant or familiar with them. Suppose a regiment so practised : 
how quickly could you select the best qualified men for any special 
service. Imagine the confidence these men would have in them- 
selves and in each other. Surely, in service such men could often 
be turned to good account. 

Much of what I have stated in these sketches may be thought too 
fanciful, and perhaps frivolous, or even ridiculous ; but from, the 
portion of experience which has fallen to my share, I have formed 
the opinion that an officer, non-commissioned officer, or even soldier, 
is valuable in proportion to the amount of and number of his expe- 
dients, his resources and his foresight, and, above all, in his know- 
ledge of the comparative qualities of those whom he commands (if 
he is a commander) and those to whom he is opposed. I have been 
in the habit of imagining that there is in the possession of two 
opposing armies a certain quantum of courage and confidence, 
usually unequally divided and always liable to fluctuation. It is 
for a commander to so play his game that he shall from day to day 
and from one affair to another win from his adversary's scales more 
or less of these qualities, and transfer the gain to his own scales ; and 
no expedient, however trifling, which may raise him in his own 
men's estimation, or may lead them to suppose themselves superior 



APPENDICES. 

much to my regret, as the success of my intended project must, I 
thought, mainly depend upon keeping them entirely in ignorance 
of our having come back to the frontier. This commander then told 
me that he had proposed to the general officer commanding, General 
De Rottenburg, to attack Black Rock, and asked for three hundred 
men, but the General would give only two hundred, and he asked me 
if I thought the place could be taken, and the barracks and stores 
destroyed by so small a force. I had already, the evening before, 
ordered four bateaux to be brought down from their place of con- 
cealment up the Chippewa creek, and I expected to have them the 
following night, and in them I had determined to attack Black Rock 
with my party, at that time only forty-four rank and file, and I 
answered his question by telling him so. He laughed, and said, "Oh, 
then, I need ask you no more questions ; but go and bring the two 
hundred men." He ordered me not to attack during his absence, but 
to wait for him, and he came up the following day. He consented 
that my party should lead the advance, and cover the retreat on coming 
away, should we be attacked. At two the following morning we 
moved off. My men, being select and good boatmen, soon gained 
the opposite shore, but, owing to the strength of the current and 
the boats being filled with men, further down than we intended. I 
then saw that the other boats would be carried still further down, 
and must be at least half an hour later in landing than my men. 
Yet my orders were to advance immediately on landing. I did so, 
and in twenty minutes we drove the enemy out, one hundred and 
fifty militiamen, who fled to Buffalo, and we were in full possession 
of all before the main body came up. Everything was then burned 
except eight large boats, which we filled with military stores and 
provisions and brought away. 

After this affair, the American army being still in Fort George 
and the town of Niagara, I had reason to believe that the American 
Fort, Niagara, was garrisoned by a few men only, and these chiefly 
wounded men and convalescents. I had ascertained, too, that the 
American boats were kept on their own side of the river, and it 
was said that the American general had them kept there lest his 
men, on being attacked by us, should fly to them, and make off to 
their own side. In this state of things it occurred to me that it 
was possible to surprise that fort, and that the capture of it would 



APPENDICES. 

lead to the inevitable surrender of the American army on our side. 
With this view, I carefully examined the state of the water a short 
distance below the Falls of Niagara, and felt satisfied that a boat 
might cross in safety, which, I believe, was never before imagined 
by anyone. I then sketched a plan to the following effect : I 
proposed to increase my party to eighty men ; to have Lieutenant 
Armstrong and twenty men of the artillery attached to me ; to have 
a boat built quickly, and during the night to transport the men 
across to the other side with three days' provisions in their haver- 
sacks ; to hide them in the woods during the whole of the following 
day ; after dark to march quickly through Lewiston — then only a 
few houses — to Fort Niagara, and immediately assault and carry it ; 
then, by firing a given number of guns, or by some other signal, to 
have boats start from the Four Mile Creek on Lake Ontario, on our 
side, with 200 or 300 men already embarked, and pulled speedily 
across the mouth of the Niagara River, and landed to reinforce my 
party in the Fort ; at daylight to attack the Americans in front 
from the woods, and our men from Fort Niagara to cannonade them 
in rear with their own guns, and thus their destruction or surrender 
must, as I then thought, and have since been convinced, be inevi- 
table. 

Having completed this sketch, I showed it to one of the most 
experienced captains in the regiment, who, on reading it, among 
other things, said: "I warn you now, that if you propose this 
scheme to the general, it will be the ruin of you. It will at once be 
said that your success already this summer has turned your brain, 
and you will be no more trusted." Wanting sufficient confidence in 
myself, and having had little experience, I declined moving further 
in it, and I have since had the mortification of seeing that the then 
dreaded part of the river has since become a common ferry ; for 
upon the supposed impossibility of crossing it by boat was founded 
my friend's chief objection. In truth, the whole scheme was not 
only practicable, but of comparatively easy achievement. 

An American boarding-pike came into my possession on the 
Niagara frontier, in 1813. I often carried it with me in the woods, 
and practised with it in every possible way — in thrusting at trees 
with it without letting it out of my grasp, in darting it from me at 
trees at every distance within the range of my strength, in leaping 



APPENDICES. 

in skill and tact to their enemies, ought to be considered beneath 
his notice. 

While suggesting so many things to be taught, I would caution 
you not to tease or fret your men by too much drilling or teaching. 
Much of what is here mentioned might be taught with little trouble 
to the soldier by choosing the fittest moment for giving the lesson ; 
and then, too, it will make the deepest impression. 

One item more of my practice I must not withhold from you, 
namely, that I always carried a prayer-book in my pocket, and on 
Sundays read to the men the service, or part of it, and the psalms 
of the day ; and on the day following an affair with the enemy I 
read part of the service and such thanksgiving and psalms particu- 
larly selected for the occasion as I thought most appropriate. And 
I can assure you the men were the more orderly, the more brave, 
and in every respect the better for this practice ; and it added more 
to my authority and influence over them than any other conduct or 
treatment of mine had ever done. 

Be assured that the soldier, before his enemy especially, is by no 
means insensible to his duty to his God, and to his great need of 
repentance and pardon through a merciful Redeemer. The devout 
and earnest offering up of prayer in his presence affects him deeply, 
and makes him grateful to his officer for thus leading him, as it 
were, into the presence of his Saviour to sue for salvation, when he 
knows not what a day or even an hour may bring forth. 



APPENDIX VII. 

Extract from despatch to Lord Glenelg, Colonial Secretary, taken 
from Sir Francis Bond Head's "Narrative," etc. : 

" Despatch No. 132. 

"Toronto, 19th December, 1837. 

"My Lord, — I have the honour to inform your Lordship that on 
Monday, 4th inst., this city was, in a moment of profound peace, 
suddenly invaded by a band of armed rebels, amounting, according 
to report, to 3,000 men (but in actual fact to about 500), and com- 



APPENDICES. 

manded by Mr. M'Kenzie, the editor of a republican newspaper; 
Mr. Van Egmont, an officer who had served under Napoleon ; Mr. 
Gibson, a land surveyor ; Mr. Lount, a blacksmith ; Mr. Loyd, and 
some other notorious characters. 

"Having, as I informed your Lordship in my despatch, No. 119, 
dated 3rd ultimo, purposely effected the withdrawal of her Majesty's 
troops from this province, and having delivered over to the civil 
authorities the whole of the arms and accoutrements I possessed, I 
of course found myself without any defence whatever, excepting 
that which the loyalty and fidelity of the Province might think 
proper to afford me. The crisis, important as it was, was one I 
had long earnestly anticipated, and accordingly 1 no sooner received 
the intelligence that the rebels were within four miles of the city 
than, abandoning the Government House, I at once proceeded to 
the City Hall, in which about 4,000 stand of arms and accoutre- 
ments had been deposited. 

" One of the first individuals I met there, with a musket on his 
shoulder, was the Chief Justice of the Province, and in a few 
minutes I found myself surrounded by a band of brave men, who 
were of course unorganized, and, generally speaking, unarmed. 

" As the foregoing statement is an unqualified admission on my 
part that I was completely surprised by the rebels, I think it 
proper to remind, rather than to explain to your Lordship, the 
course of policy I have been pursuing. 

"In my despatch, No. 124, dated 18th ultimo, I respectfully 
stated to your Lordship, as my opinion, that a civil war must 
henceforward everywhere be a moral one, and that in this hemi- 
sphere in particular, victory must eventually declare itself in favour 
of moral and not of physical preponderance. 

"Entertaining these sentiments, I observed with satisfaction that 
Mr. M'Kenzie was pursuing a lawless course of conduct which I 
felt it would be impolitic for me to arrest. 

' ' For a long time he had endeavoured to force me to buoy him up 
by a Government prosecution, but he sunk in proportion as I 
neglected him, until, becoming desperate, he was eventually driven 
to reckless behaviour, which I felt confident would very soon create 
its own punishment. 

"The traitorous arrangements he made were of that minute 



APPENDICES. 

nature that it would have been difficult, even if I had desired it, to 
have suppressed them. For instance, he began by establishing 
Union lists (in number not exceeding forty) of persons desirous of 
political reform, and who, by an appointed secretary, were recom- 
mended to communicate regularly with himself, for the purpose of 
establishing a meeting of delegates. 

"As soon as, by most wicked representations, he had succeeded 
in seducing a number of well-meaning people to join these squads, 
his next step was to prevail upon a few of them to attend their 
meetings armed, for the alleged purpose of firing at a mark. 

"While these meetings were in continuance, Mr. M'Kenzie, by 
means of his paper, became more and more seditious, and in pro- 
portion as these meetings excited more and more alarm, I was 
strongly and repeatedly called upon by the peaceable portion of the 
community forcibly to suppress both the one and the other. I 
considered it better, however, under all circumstances to await the 
outbreak, which I was confident would be impotent, inversely as it 
was previously opposed ; in short, I considered that, if an attack 
by the rebels was inevitable, the more I encouraged them to con- 
sider me defenceless the better. 

" Mr. M'Kenzie, under these favourable circumstances, having 
been freely permitted by me to make every preparation in his 
power, a concentration of his deluded adherents, and an attack 
upon the city of Toronto, was secretly settled to take place on the 
night of the 19th instant. However, in consequence of a militia 
general order which I issued, it was deemed advisable that these 
arrangements should be hastened, and accordingly, Mr. M'Kenzie's 
deluded victims, travelling through the forests by cross roads, 
found themselves assembled, at about four o'clock in the evening 
of Monday, the 4th instant, as rebels, at Montgomery's Tavern, 
which is on the Young Street macadamized road, about four miles 
from the city. 

"As soon as they had attained that position, Mr. M'Kenzie and 
a few others, with pistols in their hands, arrested every person on 
the road, in order to prevent information reaching the town. 
Colonel Moody, a distinguished veteran officer, accompanied by 
three gentlemen on horseback, on passing Montgomery's Tavern, 
was fired at by the rebels, and I deeplv regret to say that the 
23 



APPENDICES. 

colonel, wounded in two places, was taken prisoner into the tavern, 
where in three hours he died, leaving a widow and family unpro- 
vided for. 

" As soon as this gallant, meritorious officer, who had honourably 
fought in thi3 province, fell, I am informed that Mr. M'Kenzie 
exultingly observed to his followers, 'That, as blood. had now been 
spilled, they were hi for it, and had nothing left but to advance.' 

"Accordingly, at about ten o'clock at night, they did advance, 
and I was in bed and asleep when Mr. Alderman Powell awakened 
me to state that, in riding out of the city towards Montgomery's 
Tavern, he .had been arrested by Mr. M'Kenzie and another prin- 
cipal leader ; that the former had snapped a pistol at his breast, 
that his (Mr. Powell's) pistol also snapped, but that he fired a 
second, which, causing the death of Mr. M'Kenzie's companion, had 
enabled him to escape. 

"On arriving at the City Hall I appointed Mr. Justice Jones, 
Mr. Henry Sherwood, Captain Strachan, and Mr. John Robinson, 
my aid-de-camps. 

"I then ordered the arms to be unpacked, and, manning all the 
windows of the building, as well as those of opposite houses which 
flanked it, we awaited the rebels, who, as I have stated, did not 
consider it advisable to advance. Beside these arrangements, I 
despatched a message to the Speaker of the House of Assembly, 
Colonel the Honourable Allan M'Nab, of the Gore District, and to 
the Colonels of the Militia regiments in the Midland and Newcastle 
districts ; an advanced piquet of thirty volunteers, commanded by 
my aid-de-camp, Mr. Justice Jones, was placed within a short 
distance of the rebels. 

"By the following morning (Tuesday) we mustered about 300 
men, and in the course of the day the number increased to about 
500 ; in the night, an advanced piquet commanded by Mr. Sheriff 
Jarvis, was attacked within the precincts of the city by the rebels, 
who were driven back, one of their party being killed and several 
wounded. 

"On Wednesday morning we were sufficiently strong to have 
ventured on an attack, but, being sensible of the strength of our 
position, being also aware how much depended upon the contest in 
which we were about to be engaged, and feeling the greatest possible 



APPENDICES. 

reluctance at the idea of entering upon a civil war, I despatched 
two gentlemen to the rebel leaders to tell them that, before any 
conflict should take place, I parently called upon them, as their 
Governor, to avoid the effusion of human blood. 

"In the meanwhile, however, Mr. M'Kenzie had committed 
every description of enormity ; he had robbed the mail with his 
own hands, had set fire to Dr. Home's house — had plundered many 
inoffensive individuals of their money — had stolen several horses, 
had made a number of respectable people prisoners ; and having 
thus succeeded in embarking his misguided adherents in guilt, he 
replied to my admonition by a message, that he would only consent 
that his demands should be settled by a national convention, and 
he insolently added that he would wait till two o'clock for my 
answer, which in one word was, "Never." 

In the course of Wednesday the Speaker of the House of Assem- 
bly, Colonel the Honourable Allan M'Nab, arrived from the Gore 
District at the head of about sixty men, whom he had assembled at 
half an hour's notice, and, other brave men flocking in to me from 
various directions, I was enabled by strong piquets to prevent Mr. 
M'Kenzie from carrying into effect his diabolocal intention to burn 
the city of Toronto, in order to plunder the banks ; and, having 
effected this object, I determined that on the following day I would 
make the attack. 

"Accordingly, on Thursday morning I assembled our forces, 
under the direction of the Adjutant-General of Militia, Colonel 
FitzGibbon, clerk of the Assembly. 

' ' The principal body was headed by the Speaker, Colonel Allan 
M'Nab, the right wing being commanded by Colonel Samuel Jarvis, 
the left by Colonel William Chisholm, assisted by the Honourable 
Mr. Justice M'Lean, late Speaker of the House of Assembly ; the 
two guns by Major Carfrae of the Militia Artillery. 

" The command of the Militia left in the city remained under Mr. 
Justice Macaulay, and the protection of the city with Mr. Gurnett, 
the Mayor. 

"I might also have most advantageously availed myself in the 
field of the military services of Colonel Foster, the commander of 
the forces in Upper Canada, of Captain Baddeley of the corps of 



APPENDICES. 

Royal Engineers, and of a detachment of eight artillerymen, who 
form the only regular force in this province, but, having deliber- 
ately determined that the important contest in which I was about 
to be engaged should be decided solely by the Upper Canada 
Militia, or, in other words, by the free inhabitants of this noble 
province, I was resolved that no consideration whatever, should 
induce me to avail myself of any other assistance than that upon 
which, as the representative of our Gracious Sovereign, I had firmly 
and implicitly relied. 

"At twelve o'clock the Militia force marched out of the town, 
with an enthusiasm it would be impossible to describe, and in about 
an hour we came in sight of the rebels, who occupied an elevated 
position near Gallows Hill, in front of Montgomery's Tavern, which 
had been long the rendezvous of M'Kenzie's men. They were 
principally armed with rifles, and for a short time, favoured by 
buildings, they endeavoured to maintain their ground ; however, 
the brave and loyal militia of Upper Canada, steadily advancing 
with a determination which was irresistible, drove them from their 
position, completely routed Mr. M'Kenzie, who, in a state of the 
greatest agitation ran away, and in a few minutes Montgomery's 
Tavern, which was first entered by Mr. Justice Jones, was burnt to 
the ground. 

" Being on the spot merely as a Civil Governor, and in no way in 
command of the troops, I was happy to have an opportunity of 
demonstrating to the rebels the mildness and beneficence of her 
Majesty's Government, and well knowing that the laws of the 
country would have ample opportunity of making examples of the 
guilty, I deemed it adviseable to save the prisoners who were 
taken, and to extend to most of these misguided men the royal 
mercy, by ordering their immediate release. These measures 
having been effected and the rebels having been deprived of their 
flag (on which was inscribed in large letters, 

"'BIDWELL, AND THE GLORIOUS luINORLTY 
1837, AND A GOOD BEGINNING'), 

the Militia advanced in pursuit of the rebels about four miles till 
they reached the house of one of the principal ringleaders, Mr. 



APPENDICES. 

Gibson, which residence it would have been impossible to have 
saved, and it was consequently burned to the ground." * 

* " By my especial order." 



In the original despatch as first published and circulated in 
Canada, there was no foot-note attached to this paragraph. In the 
second edition, as stated in the account given by FitzGibbon, whose 
letter to Lord Glenelg had provoked that nobleman to make Sir 
Francis practically acknowledge the falseness of his first statement, 
the foot-note is appended. 

I have copied the despatch verbatim, spelling, grammar, and 
punctuation, exactly as I find it in a copy of the "Narrative," 
second edition, now in the possession of the Rev. Canon Bull, 
Rector of Lundy's Lane (Drummondville). 

I need add but one more extract from this specious production, 
relative to the actual outbreak of rebellion and Sir Francis Head's 
devious policy : 

"Mr. M'Kenzie and his party, finding that at every point they 
were defeated in a moral attack which they had made upon the 
British constitution, next determined to excite their deluded adhe- 
rents to have recourse to physical strength. Being as ready to meet 
them on that ground as I had been ready to meet them in a moral 
struggle, I gave them every possible advantage. I in no way 
availed myself of the immense resources of the British empire ; on 
the contrary, I purposely dismissed from this province the whole 
of our troops. I allowed Mr. M'Kenzie to write what he choose, 
say what he chose, and do what he chose ; and without taking any 
notice of his traitorous proceedings I waited, with folded arms, 
until he had collected his rebel forces, and had actually commenced 
his attack." [The italics are his.] 

"I then, as a solitary individual, called upon the militia of Upper 
Canada to defend me, and the result has been as I have stated, viz., 
that the people of Upper Canada, came to me when I called them ; 
that they completely defeated Mr. M'Kenzie's adherents, and drove 
him and his rebel ringleaders from the land. 

(" When her Majesty's Government published this despatch they 
omitted the following paragraphs and words printed in italics) : 



APPENDICES. 

" These are historical facts which it is impossible to deny ; and the 
plain inference is, that the inhabitants of Upper Canada, as I have 
often publicly declared, detest democracy, and revere the noble mon- 
archical institutions of the British Empire." 



I need quote no more, the concluding paragraphs of this remark- 
able despatch being but an attack upon the Under Secretary for the 
Colonies, and also in italics. It is difficult, however, to refrain 
from adding an extract from another of the valiant Governor's 
despatches, dated Toronto, Jan. 26th, 1838, and numbered II., as 
bearing upon the above : 

" Events have since proved that the judgement I had formed of 
the dangerous effects of conciliation was not incorrect. Treason, 
which had long slumbered in this province having been fanned by- 
conciliation suddenly burst into a flame. The details of the late 
rebellion, as contained in my Despatch dated December 19th (No 
132) have already explained to your Lordship that on the 7th of 
December last the brave militia of Upper Canada drove the rebels 
from their position at Gallows Hill ; that their place of rendezvous, 
Montgomery's Tavern, immediately fell into their possession, and 
that, on a small party reaching it, they found, brought out, and 
unfurled in triumph before their comrades, the traitors' flag, upon 
which was inscribed in large letters, 

"'BIDWELL AND THE GLORIOUS MINORITY; 
1837, AND A GOOD BEGINNING.' 

My Lord, if that flag had, as was expected by its followers, tri- 
umphantly entered Toronto, I have no hesitation in saying it would 
have waved over the corpse of every loyal subject in the city ; 
indeed, we have received evidence that a general massacre of the 
Queen's loyal subjects would have been attempted." 

Might we not without prejudice endorse the remark attributed to 
Judge Ridout by Sir Francis, who devotes several pages of the 
volume to abuse of that gentleman for having " violated all political 
decency by publicly declaring that I, the Lieutenant-Governor of 
Upper Canada, deserved to be tarred and feathered," and that he, 
Judge Ridout, " would lend a hand to do so." 



APPENDICES. 



APPENDIX VIII. 

Copy of FitzGibbon's letter to Lord Glenelg, written after the 
publication of Sir Francis Bond Head's despatch : 

"Toronto, Upper Canada, 

"August 10th, 1838. 

" My Lord, — In the month of April last I received in a Dublin 
newspaper an extract of a despatch to your Lordship from Sir 
Francis Head, dated the 19th of December last. Some of the state- 
ments in that extract were at variance with facts, and were likely 
to injure my character with Her Majesty's Government, instead of 
doing me that justice which was due to me from His Excellency, and 
which was and is well known here to be undoubtedly my due. I 
therefore addressed a letter to your Lordship, dated the 17th of 
April, and having appended to it a statement of the events which 
occurred in this city under my own observation, previous to the 
13th of December last. I placed both in the hands of Sir George 
Arthur, with a letter to His Excellency, dated 5th of May, request- 
ing that they might be transmitted to your Lordship. 

"The reasons which led me to proceed thus far were stated in 
the letter to your Lordship ; but on the 11th of May, I was induced 
by representations made to me to apply to His Excellency not to 
transmit the said documents, but to return them to me, and His 
Excellency was pleased to comply with this request, and they were 
returned to me accordingly. 

"Now, however, in reading in a newspaper 'An explanatory 
memorandum, addressed by Sir Francis Head to Lord Glenelg, 
dated 21st of May last,' I feel I cannot, in justice to myself, remain 
any longer passive while Sir Francis Head reiterates statements, 
not only to Her Majesty's colonial minister, but subsequently in a 
document wherein I am particularly named, and which has been 
transmitted to the House of Commons ; in which statements I can- 
not concur, and upon which I may hereafter be called upon to give 
evidence. 

" In this letter I will confine myself to three of these statements, 
namely : 



APPENDICES. 

" 1st. The statement made relative to the burning of the rebel 
Gibson's house, made in the despatch of the 19th of December last, 
is not correct ; for Sir Francis himself ordered me to have it burned, 
and when I was about to remonstrate against the order, he said : 
' Stop ; hear me — let Gibson's house be burned forthwith, and let 
the militia be kept here until it be burned ; ' and then, without a 
moment's delay, he galloped away from me. In obedience to this 
order, I took a party of men with me to Gibson's house, three miles 
beyond where we then were, and nine from this city, and had it 
burned. 

" 2nd. The paragraph in the despatch, where it is stated that 
' In the course of Tuesday the Speaker of the House of Assembly 
arrived and,' etc., is only so far correct as that 'eleven o'clock at 
night ' may be said to be ' in the course of Tuesday. ' For the 
Speaker did not arrive at the City Hall until about eleven o'clock 
on Tuesday night. 

" Some hours before his arrival, about six p.m., being then dark, 

seeing me about to send a picket up Yonge Street (the great 

northern road so called), he positively forbade me to send a man 

out. I said I could not endure to see the city left open to the 

ruffians who threatened it ; to which he answered : ' We cannot 

defend the city, we have not men enough ; let us defend our posts ; ' 

and further added : ' It is my positive order that you do not leave 

this building yourself.' I replied : ' I pray of your Excellency not 

to lay those imperative orders upon me, for I ought to be in many 

places, and I ought to be allowed to exercise a discretionary power 

where you are not near to give me orders ; ' to which he replied : 

' If you go through the city as you have heretofore done, you will 

be taken prisoner ; ' and seizing me by the arm with both his hands, 

he exclaimed, ' If we lose you, what shall we do ? ' Nevertheless I 

soon after left the hall, and took the sheriff, W. B. Jarvis, Esquire, 

with a picket, up Yonge Street, above a mile distant from the 

City Hall, and there posted and gave specific instructions for the 

conduct of his picket, after which I returned to the City Hall, and 

deeming it most candid to do so, reported to His Excellency what 

I had done ; and he rebuked me for it, not harshly certainly, but he 

expressed his disapprobation of what I had done. In about an hour 

afterwards this very picket repulsed the rebels with some loss, and 



APPENDICES. 

saved the town, for they were then coming for the express purpose 
of setting it on fire. It was probably more than an hour after they 
(the rebels) were so repulsed that the Speaker arrived at the City 
Hall with a reinforcement of about sixty men from Hamilton. 

" 3rd. In the ' Explanatory Memorandum,' in his answer to the 
second question, Sir Francis Head states, in the second paragraph, 
' However, notwithstanding the attitude which I publicly deemed it 
politic to assume, I privately made all the arrangements in my 
power to be ready to move whenever the proper moment shou)/( 
arrive.' Upon this statement I beg leave to observe that for some 
weeks before the 5th of December I had, occasionally, opportunities 
of conversing with His Excellency on the state of the Province, an I 
he uniformly resisted (with one exception only, see note at enr. ) 
every suggestion of mine for defence. So far did he carry his> 
resistance to my advice that he refused to appoint twenty officers t(- 
fill vacancies in one of the city regiments which I then commanded, 
and which was an ordinary duty to be at any time performed, and 
without which appointments the regiment could not be rendered 
efficient for any service. Upon that occasion His Excellency said : 
' I will make no alteration during the winter, having no apprehension 
whatever of any movement on the part of Mr. Mackenzie or his 
adherents.' 

"The details which I could give on this subject are many and 
remarkable, even down to so late as Saturday evening previous to 
the outbreak, which took place on Monday. It was only on Mon- 
day morning that I was appointed to act as Adjutant-General of 
Militia, nor until then did I expect or know that His Excellency 
intended to appoint me. I had during the preceding summer told 
him that I would not accept the office, and this I felt constrained to 
tell His Excellency, because having then been sent for by him, and 
questioned on the state of the Adjutant-General's department, I 
gave him a most unfavorable account of it, whereupon His Excel- 
lency asked me why I had not before made the state of the depart- 
ment known to him ; to which I replied, ' Had I done so, your 
Excellency might have supposed that I desired to have the Adjutant- 
General dismissed and myself appointed in his stead. But now that 
I have made this statement to your Excellency, I never will accept 
the office.' 



APPENDICES. 

"On Monday morning, the 4th of December, when Sir Francis 
Head sent for me, I found His Excellency with a Militia General 
Order in his hand appointing me Acting Adjutant-General of 
Militia ; and on my entering the room, he said, ' You have already- 
said you did not desire to be Adjutant-General of Militia, never- 
theless I have appointed you, trusting that you will not withhold 
your services from me in the present state of public affairs,' and I 
consented. 

"And here I will briefly state, by way of recapitulation, that Sir 
Francis Head uniformly resisted every advice to guard against 
approaching dangers ; and that had his course been pursued by all 
others, Toronto would inevitably have been taken by the rebels, 
with the arms, banks and all else in the city. Thousands of other 
rebels would soon have joined them, and thousands of base Ameri- 
cans would have overrun the Province, at least so much of it as lies 
westward of Toronto. The consequences would have been most 
disastrous, and much of the evils which might have thus been 
inflicted on the innocent and loyal would have been irreparable, 
and the cost of recovering the Province would have been immense, 
the injury to the nation incalculable. 

" On the other hand, I affirm that were it not for the warnings I 
gave, and the precautions I took, and the personal efforts made by 
me, this city would have been taken by the rebels on Monday night, 
that the saving of the city on Tuesday night was owing to my 
having placed the sheriff's picket on Yonge Street, which I did 
contrary to the positive orders of Sir Francis Head ; and yet for 
the sending out of which picket he takes the merit to himself in 
the despatch of the 19th of December last. The accuracy of these 
facts and opinions I have no doubt I can prove before any impartial 
tribunal. 

"Of the facts not hereinbefore stated, I beg leave to offer the 
following in corroboration : A volunteer corps under my command 
offered to do duty over the Government House after the departure 
of the troops, and His Excellency declined the offer. A number of 
the citizens met in the City Hall in the evenings and mounted guard 
during the night over the arms lodged therein. The week before 
the insurrection, His Exv .llency ordered me to go to the City Hall 
in the evening of the day on which he spoke to me and dismiss 



APPENDICES. 

those guards, leaving only two constables to sleep in the buildings, 
and I did so dismiss them. His Excellency on that occasion said to 
me, 'But that I do not like undoing what I have already done, I 
would have the arms removed from the City Hall and placed in the 
Government House under the care of my domestics, so confident am 
I that no danger need be apprehended.' And on Saturday, when I 
said to His Excellency, ' In short, sir, when I came here this morn- 
ing I expected you would permit me to go into the city and take 
every half-pay officer and discharged soldier I could find and place 
them this very day in the fort,' His Excellency exclaimed, 'What 
would the people of England think if they saw us thus arm ? ' and, 
in continuation, he added, ' Besides, the militia in the city would 
feel themselves insulted if they were thus passed over and the 
military called upon.' To which I could not help replying, 'Pardon 
me, sir, if I say that I think they would rejoice to have the military 
as a nucleus to rally round.' At this time there were present the 
Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Jones, the Executive Councillors, Messrs. 
Allan and Sullivan, the Attorney and Solicitor-General and the 
Speaker of the House of Assembly. 

"More might be here stated in support and elucidation of the 
foregoing, but I purposely make this statement as brief as I can 
consistently with showing your Lordship that it is incumbent on me 
to express my dissent from much that has been stated by Sir Francis 
Head in the document above quoted from, inasmuch as it is there 
made to appear that I had concurred in His Excellency's pro- 
ceedings. 

"Although I feel myself deeply, perhaps irreparably, wronged 
and injured by Sir Francis Head, yet I disavow any desire or wish 
to bring reproach or blame upon him ; and I declare that I would 
not write this letter to your Lordship did I think I could, under 
such extraordinary circumstances, without dishonor to myself and 
perhaps injury to Her Majesty's Government, withhold the know- 
ledge I possess of those transactions, and the more especially as Sir 
Francis has introduced my name as if I had concurred in his opinions 
and approved of his proceedings. 

"To the paragraph in this 'Memorandum' in which my name 
appears, and to the two preceding paragraphs, I beg leave most 
respectfully to refer your Lordship. 



APPENDICES. 

" On perusing carefully what I have written, it gives me pain to 
see to what an extent this brief recital disagrees with the statement 
of Sir Francis Head, yet in no instance can I in justice to myself, 
with due regard to truth, abate or mitigate the force of any one of 
the statements herein made by me. 

"I have the honor to be, etc., etc., etc., 

"James FitzGibbon." 

[The note referred to on page 339 I have not thought it necessary 
to repeat, as it has already been given in substance in Chapter IX.] 



APPENDIX IX. 

After the meeting of the last session of the last Parliament of 
Upper Canada, the following address was voted by the Assembly 
to the Governor-General, the Right Honorable Charles Poulett 
Thomson : 

" May it please your Excellency, — We, Her Majesty's dutiful 
and loyal subjects, the Commons of Upper Canada, in Provincial 
Parliament assembled, humbly pray that your Excellency will be 
pleased to inform this House if the royal assent has been given to 
the bill passed last session, entitled ' An Act to enable Her 
Majesty to make a grant of land to James FitzGibbon, Esquire'? 

" (Signed) Allan N. Macnab, Speaker. 

" Commons House of Assembly, 

"Eighth day of January, 1840." 

"Charles Poulett Thomson — In answer to the address from 
the House of Assembly, of the 8th instant, the Governor-General 
desires to inform them that, after a full consideration of the subject, 
Her Majesty's Government have come to the conclusion that they 
could not advise Her Majesty to confirm the bill passed by the 
Provincial Legislature during the last session, but reserved for Her 
Majesty's confirmation, to enable Her Majesty to make a grant of 
land to James FitzGibbon, Esquire. 



APPENDICES. 

"Her Majesty's Government, sensible of the long and valuable 
services of Mr. FitzGibbon, came to this decision with much reluc- 
tance ; but they felt that the confirmation of such an act would be 
inconsistent with the principles laid down for the disposal of the 
waste lands of the Crown in the British colonies, and confirmed in 
that province by an Act of the Legislature, and that it would 
establish a very inconvenient precedent. 

"If, however, the Legislature of Upper Canada should desire to 
mark their sense of Mr. FitzGibbon's service by a pecuniary grant, 
the Governor-General would have much satisfaction in recommend- 
ing such a grant for Her Majesty's approval." 



APPENDIX X. 

Extract. — "The Committee have taken the Memorial of Colonel 
FitzGibbon into their anxious consideration. They feel sensibly 
the difficulties and embarrassments under which Colonel FitzGibbon 
has labored in consequence of the delays which have arisen in satis- 
fying his acknowledged claims on the public ; and have carefully 
examined into the history of his case, in order to place their view of 
it fully before your Excellency. 

" There can be no doubt that had the intention of the Legislature 
of Upper Canada been carried into effect at the time it was first 
expressed, Colonel FitzGibbon would, while obtaining no more than 
what the gratitude of that province felt due to him, have also 
gained the means of preventing those embarrassments which have 
since so cruelly pressed upon him. Her Majesty's Government, 
however, felt objections which the provincial authorities were 
unable to remove, to the remuneration of Colonel FitzGibbon by 
a grant of land, though they expressed their readiness to concur in 
a pecuniary grant for the same purpose. 

"This, however, the then state of the finances of Upper Canada 
does not appear to have permitted, and the consequence was a part 
of that delay by which Colonel FitzGibbon appears to have so deeply 
suffered. 

" The claims of the Memorialist have not, however, in the opinion 



APPENDICES. 

of the Committee, been at all weakened by the postponed satisfac- 
tion of them. Repeatedly recognized, and never (so far as the 
Council are aware), doubted or questioned by any one, the ver> 
circumstances that they have hitherto been ineffectually urged, 
tends to give them increased weight, and will in the opinion of the 
Committee justify the most favorable recommendation and sup- 
port which their duty will permit them to offer and afford. 

"It is on this account that the Committee have arrived at this 
opinion, that an amount of land scrip, corresponding in nominal 
value with the five thousand acres of land which the Legislature of 
Upper Canada, in 1838, thought Colonel FitzGibbon entitled to, 
would not be an equal compensation to that which it was at first 
proposed to gi'ant. On the contrary, besides the injurious conse- 
quences of delay, the course would, in effect, deprive Colonel Fitz- 
Gibbon of nearly one-half in point of value of the remuneration 
originally proposed. 

" The Committee, therefore, respectfully advise your Excellency 
to recommend Colonel FitzGibbon's case to favorable consideration 
at the next session of the Legislature, for a grant of such sum of 
money as shall be considered a fair equivalent for the land originally 
proposed to be given to him. 

" With regard to the application for an advance, the Committee 
have felt deep regret that they have not found it proper for them 
to advise that it should be complied with. However strong their 
opinion of the justice of Colonel FitzGibbon's claim, or the proba- 
bility of its being favorably entertained by the Legislature, they are 
not prepared to advise your Excellency to make an advance of 
public moneys in anticipation of the decision of the Parliament on 
the subject." 



APPENDIX XL 

" Lower Ward, Windsor Castle, 

11 March, 1859. 
" We, the undersigned Military Knights of the Chapel of St. 
George within the Castle of Windsor, beg leave to call your atten- 
tion to our case. 



APPENDICES. 

" As you may have heard, in the year 1855 our case was brought 
before Parliament, which resulted in directions being given by Lord 
Palmerston to the Attorney-General to file an information on our 
behalf. Our case is, shortly, this : The Charity was founded by 
King Edward III. , who declared that the Knights would be ' for- 
ever comfortably maintained ' out of the funds of St. George's 
Chapel. In the reign of King Edward IV., the Dean and Canons 
procured an Act of Parliament, without the knowledge of the 
Knights, and upon representations which were untrue, whereby the 
Chapel was freed from the maintenance of the Knights ; but it was 
stated in the Act that the Knights had been otherwise provided for. 
This statement was also untrue, and no provision was made 
directly for the Knights until the reign of King Henry VIII. 

" King Henry VIII. , in a letter which he addressed to the Dean 
and Canons, informed them that he would settle lands on the 
college for our maintenance ; and by his last will he directed lands 
to be made over by the Crown to the college of the value of £600 
per annum for our maintenance ; and his successor, King Edward 
VI. , accordingly made over lands of that value, and the Dean and 
Canons, on their part, covenanted to apply the same as the Crown 
should direct. 

' ' These documents form the foundation of the present Charity, 
the rights of which we are seeking to establish. 

" The account of the rents arising from the lands so settled on the 
college was kept quite distinct by the Dean and Canons during the 
reigns of Edward VI. , Queen Mary, and part of the reign of Eliza- 
beth, and the same were wholly applied for the benefit of the 
Knights, excepting thereout the necessary repairs of the land, and a 
small sum to the Dean and Canons for preaching sermons in the 
chapel. 

' ' The whole of the documents show that the lands were settled 
upon the college for us and for our benefit, and that no such lands 
would ever have been settled except to make a provision and to 
provide a retreat for military men. When we first employed our 
present solicitors, Messrs. Turnley & Luscombe, they enquired if 
any declaration of the trust subsequent to the deeds of Edward VI. 
had been executed, and we informed them of a book deposited in 
the Chapter House at Westminster, said to have been executed by 



APPENDICES. 

Queen Elizabeth ; but upon those gentlemen attending at the 
Chapter House to inspect this document, which throughout had 
been set up as an original, they ascertained that it was not an 
original. They discovered that this document was not signed, 
sealed, nor authenticated in any way, but merely consisted of 
several leaves of parchment folded together and fastened within 
covers, and that several of the most important parts appeared 
altered and new leaves interpolated after the book had been origi- 
nally made up. Our solicitors instituted most rigid enquiries, in 
which they were assisted by an eminent antiquary, in order to 
ascertain whether any document similar to the one in the Chapter 
House at Westminster had ever been executed, but the result of 
the enquiry clearly proved that such document had never been 
executed by Queen Elizabeth, or any other sovereign. 

"If Queen Elizabeth had executed a Declaration of Trust, the 
original ought to have been in the possession of the Dean and 
Canons, but they, by their answer, entirely repudiated the existence 
of any such document, as also the authenticity of the document in 
the Chapter House at Westminster. 

" If this document had been genuine and free from interpolations, 
our solicitors informed us that they believed, as the law then stood, 
we should have no chance of success, but feeling thoroughly satisfied 
that the same was not genuine, and that in the absence of it we 
had a perfect case, they begged the solicitors of the Attorney- 
General to cause it to be struck out of the Information ; but, after 
a long correspondence, our solicitors' requests were disregarded, 
and the book was continued in the information as a genuine docu- 
ment, against our wish and in opposition to the repudiation of the 
Dean and Canons themselves. 

" Prior to the case going into court, a consultation took place 
between the Attorney-General and our counsel, and the result of 
such consultation led us to believe that the Attorney-General would 
frame his case as though the book was not genuine ; but, on the 
hearing, to our surprise, the book was put forth as a genuine docu- 
ment, and it was upon the interpolated parts of it, before referred 
to, that the learned judge gave a decision unfavorable to us. Upon 
all the documents in the case, with the exception of this book, the 
Master of the Rolls was entirely in our favor, as his judgment 



APPENDICES. 

shows, but he assumed, the Attorney-General having adopted the 
book, that it had been duly executed by Queen Elizabeth, and upon 
the footing of it decided against us. 

" After the decision of the Master of the Rolls, we had notice 
that the Crown would not appeal, but upon representing the facts 
above referred to, to Mr. Reynolds, of the Treasury, and begging 
that an appeal might be presented, leaving out the book, the Crown 
finally decided to appeal. We were, however, astonished to observe 
that on the appeal this very book was again set up, and our efforts 
to get it struck out have proved of no avail. We are therefore 
anxious that a case should be prepared, and the most eminent 
counsel appear on the appeal on our behalf to urge the rights of this 
important and, we may say, national institution, on behalf of the 
army, as in the event of the appeal being decided against us, the 
benevolent object of this institution will be forever lost. 

" We should state that the present income of the Charity is now 
upwards of £15,000 per annum, yet we are only paid Is. per day, the 
same as in the time of Queen Elizabeth, when the income was but 
£600 per annum. You will therefore at once perceive that it is 
impossible for us to furnish the necessary funds for the preparation 
of our case, counsel's fees, and other expenses on the appeal, which 
will be very considerable. We therefore take the liberty of troub- 
ling you with the above statement, and if you will kindly assist us 
in our efforts to assert the rights of this ancient national institution, 
we shall feel extremely obliged. 

" We have the honor to be 



24 



A VETERAN OF 1812. 



APPENDIX XII. 

The following letter needs no introduction. It speaks for itself 
in the practical knowledge of the subject. The men who are so 
willing to serve in our "national army" to-day, and the govern- 
ment who support it because it is the will of the people, will read 
with interest an expression of opinion, and the pros and cons of 
a militia in 1855 — a period now sufficiently distant to be regarded 
as history. 

"THE CANADIAN MILITIA. 

" Lower Ward, Windsor Castle, 

"January 2±th, 1855. 
" To the Editor of the ' Niagara Mail.' 

"Sir, — The following extract I take from a Toronto newspaper 
of the last month, just received by me : 

" 'Against this it was urged by Mr. Brown and Mr. Mackenzie, 
and other members of the Assembly, that the whole militia system 
was a sort of farce ; and that it served but to fill the Gazette with 
advertisements and to tickle the vanity of young fools, and some 
old ones too, at seeing their names in print, besides keeping up 
expensive offices.' 

"Having been Assistant Adjutant-General in Upper Canada for 
many years, I gave my best attention to its militia. The two most 
frequent objections made to the existence of an organized militia 
were : first, the loss of time caused to the farmers in summer and 
harvest-time by attending on training days ; and second, its utter 
uselessness or inefficiency because it was not drilled and kept 
always fit to take the field. 

"The first question I put to myself was, ' Ought we or ought 
we not to have a militia ? ' 

" The years I served in the militia were from 1816 to 1827, and 
then I was convinced that it would be most unsafe to be without 
an organized militia, even though we then had our chief cities and 
military posts garrisoned by British regular troops. 

"But had I thought otherwise during those years, yet the 



APPENDICES. 

rebellion in 1837, and the inroads made over our border in 1838 
by robbers and ruffians from the neighboring States, must have 
proved the absolute necessity of having our people so organized 
as to be available for self-defence with the least possible loss of 
time — say in three or four days, or in a week at the least. 

" Let us now suppose our people not organized in any way, and 
that an emergency suddenly arose for calling them forth to defend 
their country, their property and their families — how long would 
it take to form those of any one county into companies and 
regiments of infantry, with colonels, majors, captains, and sub- 
alterns, and staff; and also to form companies of artillery and 
troops of cavalry, with all their officers ? How could all these 
officers be speedily selected, recommended for their several com- 
missions and appointed to their several posts? Lieutenants of 
counties might, no doubt, be appointed, or even be kept always in 
existence to perform that duty on the occurrence of an emergency. 
" Then every officer from the colonel to the ensign would have to 
be nominated and approved, all at once, and afterwards all the 
non-commissioned officers. Under such circumstances I would ask 
any reflecting man to consider what an amount of jealousy and 
ill-will would be created by such numerous appointments so 
hurriedly made, even if the person recommended were ever so 
impartially selected — which they would not be, for many would 
think themselves more eligible than those so appointed over them ; 
and how long would it take to bring such discordant materials into 
harmony as to ensure from the juniors to the seniors that amount 
of willing obedience and cordial support so indispensable to success 
in the labors of military training and in all other military duties ; 
and how long would it then take to bring them into the field in 
any tolerable state of organization, to say nothing of discipline ? 

" I take for granted that the reflecting men among the militia 
of Canada will never desire to be found, in an hour of danger, in 
such circumstances as these thus rapidly sketched. My own 
view of the militia is, that regiments of infantry, companies of artil- 
lery and troops of cavalry should continue to be formed as they 
are now. That their commander should be authorized to call out 
their several corps once in each year, or twice at the most. These 
parades I would not consider as for drill or training, but that the 



A VETERAN OF 1812. 

officers should see their men, and the men their officers ; that each 
might know his place in the company, and the companies their 
place in the regiment. 

" More than this could not well be done at a single day's meeting ; 
but such a meeting would afford an opportunity of exchanging 
neighborly and kindly greetings among all, and many would pro- 
bably avail themselves of the occasion to dine together. A day so 
spent would not be mis-spent. Far otherwise ; it would call into 
lively exercise the kindly feelings of patriotic men, assembled 
together in the noble character of their country's defenders, and as 
the mutual guardian of their own firesides and families. Every 
man of generous mind and manly spirit would cheerfully attend 
such meeting and then return to his home a more pleased and happy 
man. 

"In the present mode of appointing officers to the militia, jeal- 
ousy or envy can only be created on the appointment of each to the 
first commission ; and if any reasonable impartiality be observed by 
commanders of regiments, seldom will cause of dissatisfaction be 
given, and then only in the one instance at a time. 

"The regiments of militia of Canada can now, in any case of 
emergency, be assembled at their places of regimental rendezvous 
in the course of four, five or six days, according to the extent of the 
limits, and this would suffice for any domestic emergency which 
could arise. As for war, its approach must be known many months 
before it could appear in the shape of invasion, and in anticipation 
of it only should recourse be had to extensive drilling. Then 
would drilling be cheerfully attended to and the exercises eagerly 
and rapidly learned, as I witnessed in Montreal, in 1812, and as 
happened in Upper Canala at the same time. 

' ' During peace the only drill I would recommend for the militia 
would be for volunteers, officers or men, in the regiments, troops 
of cavalry or companies of artillery, by such teachers among them- 
selves as had retired from the regular army, of whom many are 
always to be found scattered in the Province. To all such, being 
purely volunteers, drill would be matter of amusement, as well as 
improvement, and in the event of war occurring these volunteers, 
so taught, would aid in training their comrades. 

"Again I ask, can any reasoning man think of dispensing with the 



APPENDICES. 

militia after the experience of 1837 and '38 ? The Province is now 
much richer than it was then. It is rapidly increasing in riches. 
Have riches ever been safe in this world without protection? If 
the British Provinces of North America were so rich as to excite the 
cupidity of ruffians and plunderers, both domestic and foreign, to 
make war upon the country in those days, how much more tempting 
must your continually and rapidly increasing riches be hereafter ? 
Therefore do I earnestly counsel the people of Canada to cherish a 
militia system, notwithstanding the expense, which however is 
inconsiderable, improving such system as time and experience may 
hereafter suggest. 

"Let them be assured that their safety from foreign aggression 
must ever be in proportion to their means of self-defence and their 
power to punish all aggression. Without the possession of such 
power, and a true manifestation of it before the eyes of all men, 
and a manly exercise of it when required, the people of Canada 
would soon cease to be respected by their neighbors, and would 
saon cease to respect themselves, and would ultimately become 
objects of contempt, insult and aggression to the hordes of law- 
less men in the United States, so well known as sympathizers or 
filibusters. 

" Against all such, and against all foreign aggression, the people 
of the British Provinces, if duly prepared, are even now abundantly 
capable of self-defence. Let them cherish the remembrance of the 
campaigns of 1812, '13 and '14, the history of which their sons and 
successors must ever be proud of ; and the example then set it 
must ever be their pride to follow, until their country becomes the 
envy of other nations, as unconquerable, contented and happy. 

" I venture to give this advice through your journal to my old 
friends on the Niagara frontier, confident that they will appreciate 
my feelings and my motives. And from the Mail I venture to hope 
that other journals in Canada will copy it for the consideration of 
their readers. 

"Praying for the continued prosperity of the North American 
Provinces, 

" I remain, sir, 

" Your obedient servant, 

"James FitzGiebon. " 



A VETERAN 0$ 1812. 



APPENDIX XIII. 

"Being in London, in 1849, I was requested by a statesman* to 
give him some of my opinions on the state of the Canadas. Where- 
upon I committed to writing the following 'observations,' and 
delivered them to him in manuscript. 

" Soon after, it occurred to me to have them printed, for private 
circulation, and accordingly I had three hundred copies struck off. 

"Now, in November, 1855, I am again in London, and because 
of the many angry articles in the newspapers on our present 
relations with the United States of America, I print, for private 
circulation, three hundred copies more. 

"And, by way of appendix, I add a copy of a letter which I 
addressed to the editor of the London Spectator, in February, 1848. 

"MEMORANDUM of Opinions entertained and expressed in 
Canadian Affairs, in the year 1838, by an Officer long resident in 
Canada, and which he transmitted from Toronto, in writing, to the 
Lords of the Admiralty, and to three eminent statesmen in Eng- 
land, in June of that year. 

" Do not unite the two Canadas under one Legislature, as you 
will thereby punish the loyalists in Upper Canada for the mis- 
deeds of the disaffected in Lower Canada. I am convinced that, if 
so united, those of French descent in Lower Canada will unite with 
the present opposition in Upper Canada and rule their adversaries 
with vindictive harshness. 

"The House of Assembly in Lower Canada voluntarily and 
contumaciously abdicated its functions and its privileges. Let that 
Province be, in consequence, governed by a governor and council, 
for five or ten years, until it appears that a representative govern- 
ment can again be prudently restored to it. This governor and 
council can, no doubt, govern that Province better than it has yet 
been governed ; and thus a practical proof may be given of the 
superiority of such government for a province while yet too imma- 
ture for self-government. Leave Upper Canada to itself. Cherish 

* Lord Seaton. 



APPENDICES. 

it and it will become daily more and more an efficient bulwark 
against aggression. 

" If, however, union be decided upon, let it be the union of all 
the provinces, whereby the British race will be so predominant as 
to leave no hope to the other race of acquiring or gaining any 
ascendancy ; and, consequently, no proceedings to that effect will 
be seriously thought of by that race. 

" In making this statement I have no idea of treating the Cana- 
dians of French descent, after such union, as not fully entitled to 
equal privileges and advantages of everj' description as their other 
fellow -subjects in Lower Canada. From my long acquaintance 
with their social virtues and amiable qualities, I respect and love 
them. 

" Let the union of all the provinces be Federal, or other, as the 
Imperial Parliament may decide. 

" The United States have but four ports or harbors peculiarly eli- 
gible for naval purposes, namely, Boston, New York, the Chesapeake, 
and Pensacola. With such a seaboard, and without a numerous sea- 
going people, the United States cannot become a great naval power. 
Their commercial marine employs about one hundred thousand sea- 
men, ten thousand only of whom are native Americans. But add 
to them the Bay of Fundy, with the harbors therein ; Halifax, the 
noblest naval station in America ; the islands in the Gulf and in the 
River St. Lawrence, and the shores of that river on the south side 
up to Quebec, then down the north shore to Labrador ; the island 
of Newfoundland, with the fisheries in the neighboring seas and on 
their extensive coasts ; the boundless coal-fields of New Brunswick 
and Cape Breton, with the inexhaustible forests of timber in all 
the provinces, and at one blow you quadruple the naval means of 
the United States, and by the same blow you cut off the right arm 
of England's naval power. 

"Let it be further considered that the canals now in course of 
construction will lead to the building of ships upon the lakes in 
Upper Canada, the hulls of which may be floated down to Quebec, 
and there be rigged and equipped for sea, and may then be loaded 
with provisions for the use of the navy, or for other home consump- 
tion, whereby a saving of public money might be made. The time 
will come when all the ships wanted by England, either for 



A VETERAN OF 1812. 

commerce or war, may hereafter be built on these lakes and floated 
down to the ocean. And if the canals now in the course of 
construction be not large enough, they may be increased in size to 
any required extent, and the vast future increase of trade will pay 
for all such increase ; for the waters of the St. Lawrence never rise 
more than three feet above their lowest level, the lakes above 
neutralizing or regulating such rise by their vast surfaces ; the 
increase of the canals may therefore be made at the least possible 
cost. The Mississippi can never be canaled at all, because its 
waters sometimes rise sixty feet above its lowest level, having no 
lake to check or regulate its periodical overflowings. 

" Therefore ' let not these provinces be lost or given away.' 

"Thus far I wrote to England in 1838. To which I add, now in 
July, 1849, the following statement of facts and opinions : 

" In the summer of 1848, this last summer, the hulls of two 
American steamboats, built at Sackett's Harbor, on Lake Ontario, 
and intended for service on the Pacific Ocean, were floated down 
the St. Lawrence to Montreal. During a few days' stay at that city, 
their officers had dinners given to them by the officers of the garri- 
son and by the citizens. Thus was achieved in part what, in 1838, 
I had stated to the Lords of the Admiralty would, I had no doubt, 
be accomplished at no distant day. And only a few days ago I 
read in a newspaper in London an account of two more steam 
vessels being floated down this present summer. 

Let the British Government and people consider what might not 
improbably follow the possession of all those advantages to the 
American people. With Russia in possession of the Baltic and the 
Black Sea on one side, and all North America in possession of the 
people of the United States on the other, and both allied for the 
purpose of driving Great Britain from the ocean, how long could 
England supply herself with timber, hemp, and all the other 
materials required for sustaining her ships of war and her mercan- 
tile marine? Let it not be forgotten that such a coalition between 
that Despotism and that Republic has once already been contem- 
plated, namely, in 1812. 

"Need I again repeat the memorable words of his late Majesty, 
William the Fourth, ' Let not these provinces be lost or given 
away.' 



APPENDICES. 

"As to the military power of the United States, the time is, 
I consider, far distant when it can become formidable, beyond their 
own frontiers, to any country well defended. Their people are 
too comfortable to go for soldiers, and to submit to military discip- 
line and be shot at for a soldier's pay. Hence their chief difficulty 
in raising a numerous army ; and their militia have hitherto refused 
to serve beyond their own frontier. The armies of the United 
States must, for ages to come, be chiefly made up of heterogenous 
masses of foreigners. When in Congress, in 1812, the question 
of declaring war against Great Britain was debated, Mr. Pickering, 
of Massachusetts, asked how the United States could injure Eng- 
land ? General Porter said he could take Upper Canada with a 
corporal and six men to carry a flag ; believing that the majority 
of its inhabitants were ready to join the United States. Such was 
then the general belief in those States, and such it was also in 1837. 
Yet when the days of trial came, the majority promptly gave the lie 
to General Porter and his confident and credulous countrymen. Yet 
now again is the same belief more loudly proclaimed than ever. And 
now again I do confidently declare my unwavering belief that the 
majority of Canada will as promptly as ever belie that slander, if 
they be not now unjustly or unkindly treated by the Imperial 
Government in the present anomalous crisis. Other members of the 
Congress said, ' Let us invade the Canadas with fifty thousand men 
at Amherstburg, fifty thousand men at Niagara, and fifty thousand 
at Montreal !' I was then in Canada, and well knew, as I then said 
to my friends, that the United States Government could not raise 
fifty thousand ; and in point of fact their whole regular army, dur- 
ing that war, never amounted at any one time to twenty-five 
thousand. Their armies invaded Upper and Lower Canada in the 
consecutive summers of 1812, 1813 and 1814, and at the close of 
each campaign they did not possess an inch of either Province. 
While our army captured their chief fortress, Fort Niagara, at the 
end of the second campaign, and kept it until peace was concluded, 
in February, 1815, when it was restored. 

"As to the American armies, I do not hesitate to characterize 
them as very refractory, not even excepting their officers. And the 
more numerous they be, the more unmanageable, I am confident, 
they must become. Many proofs of insubordination were given in 



A VETERAN OF 1812. 

evidence before the Court Martial which tried and condemned 
General Hull for his surrender of Fort Detroit to General Brock 
in 1812. One instance of this I give from those proceedings, as 
published in the United States. 

"While General Hull's army were marching through the forest, on 
their route to Detroit, in July, 1812, they halted one day, as usual, 
about three o'clock. Soon after the General's tent was pitched, he 
heard an unusual noise in the camp, and sent one of his aides-de- 
camp to inquire the cause and report it to him. This officer soon 
returned and said, ' It is nothing, General, only a company of Ohio 
volunteers riding their captain upon a rail ! ' — a species of indignity 
tantamount to tarring and feathering. 

" This fact, with other similar ones, the General brought before 
the court to show how little he could expect to achieve with an 
army so constituted as that which he commanded. 

" Two other facts, to the same effect, I now give here from infor- 
mation received by me from two American officers while in conver- 
sation with them in Canada. 

"On my arrival at Fort George, Niagara, with a detachment 
under my command, from Kingston, in January, 1813, I found there 
a captain of the American army, lately taken prisoner on that fron- 
tier. Having once been myself a prisoner of war in France, in 
1799, I felt a consequent sympathy for this officer, and therefore 
called upon him. I repeated my visits daily for some time, and 
our acquaintance became a rather intimate one. One day he said, 
' I left my native State in the south, some three months ago, to 
make war upon you British in this Province. I then entertained 
very unfavorable opinions of British officers. I believed them to 
be a proud, haughty, tyrannical class of men. In a few days after 
joining our army at Buffalo, I was sent in command of the advanced 
detachment to attack your batteries, and succeeded in capturing 
one of them. But General Smyth not having promptly supported 
me, I and my detachment were taken prisoners. 

" ' Soon after my arrival in this fort, the officers of the regiment 
here invited me to become an honorary member of their mess, and 
I accepted the invitation. But instead of their being proud and 
haughty, I find them frank and kind, and very attentive to me. I 
look through my windows over your barrack square, and I see that 



APPENDICES. 

those officers treat their men with more condescension and kind- 
ness than we can treat ours. Were we to deal with our men as I 
see you deal with yours, we should lose all authority over them. 
We feel ourselves compelled to keep them at a distance— in short, to 
rule them with a rod of iron.' 

" The second conversation I had was with Thomas Jefferson 
Sutherland, the soi-disant general commanding the assembled body 
of sympathizers collected in Detroit, in 1838, to invade Canada. 
In attempting to reconnoitre our borders, he came over on the ice 
with his aide-de-camp, when his path was crossed by Colonel 
Prince, of Sandwich, who was driving by in his sleigh. The 
Colonel shrewdly suspecting what their object must be, pulled up, 
and, jumping out with his rifle, in an instant made them both 
prisoners and drove them to Sandwich. They were soon after sent 
to Toronto, where the general was tried by a militia court-martial, 
of which I was the acting judge advocate. After the trial the 
proceedings of the court were sent to England for the decision of 
the Imperial Government, and the prisoner was transferred from 
the garrison to the district gaol in the city, for safe keeping, until 
further orders. 

" Entertaining for him a^ rather different kind of sympathy than 
he and his myrmidons had lately proclaimed for our Canadian 
people, I visited him occasionally, and gave him a few volumes to 
be perused by him on his passage to Van Diemen's Land, whither 
I doubted not he would soon be transported. Thus I became on 
somewhat intimate terms with this American also. 

" One day he addressed me to the following effect : ' By my late 
proceedings I have acquired a kind of experience which I little 
expected on joining my sympathizing countrymen, and for which I 
am likely to pay far too clear a price. I am now convinced that 
the people of the United States are, as soldiers, very unmanage- 
able, even from the highest to the lowest of them. I one day 
detached from Detroit my second in command, General Theller, 
with a schooner, full of men, to take possession of Point Pele 
Island, below Amherstburg, and there to wait until I should join 
him with the remainder of our force. On passing Amherstburg, 
however, he thought it had a very defenceless appearance, and he 
suddenly decided on attacking it in the hope of taking the feather 



A VETERAN OE 18152. 

out of my cap, as the saying has it, and thereby raising himself at 
once to eminence. He made the attack, but failed, being with his 
men and schooner captured by your people. And thus was my 
then plan entirely frustrated. In short, our people are very unfit 
materials for soldiers.' 

"Much to this effect has already become public by what has 
appeared in the newspapers of the recent doings in Mexico ; and 
much more, no doubt, existed, but which may never become public. 
Neither does the success which attended the American army in 
Mexico at all change my opinions of the inefficiency of that army. 
The hope of finding riches in that country, no doubt, induced many 
to join that army, and the well-known feeble character of the 
Mexicans gave more confidence and energy to the Americans 
than they could display before an army of undoubted skill and 
well-known individual strength and bravery. 

" From the experience I have had during the late war in Canada, 
and from all that I have heard and read, I have no doubt but that 
the present population of the North American Provinces, cordially 
united, and supported by troops now (1849) in those provinces, 
would promptly defeat and drive back into their own territory an 
invading American army of one hundred thousand men. 

" Let the Imperial Government now unite those provinces, and 
then be just and indulgent to their people, and neither separation 
by the desire of the provincials nor conquest by the United States, 
need be apprehended. 

" So united, and held by affection to the parent State, as I am 
fully convinced a large majority of the provincials ardently desire 
to be, their neighbors may invade the provinces, but assuredly 
with no better result than attended their armies in 1812, 1813 and 
1814. 

" To the Editor of the London ' Spectator ' : 

" S IRj — I n your paper of Saturday, under the head of ' Impor- 
tant News from Canada,' I have read your comments thereon. 
Although unwilling to write on politics, I yet cannot refrain from 
addressing to you some opinions and observations on that Province 
and its politics. 

" And I begin by declaring that I have no fear nor apprehension 



APPENDICES. 

of the North American Provinces ever becoming part and parcel of 
the United States of America ; nor do I believe that for generations 
to come the people of those provinces will desire to be separated 
from Great Britain, if they ever do desire such separation. Neither 
have I any fear that the party now having the majority in the 
Canadian Assembly will adopt a single measure with a view to 
dissever, or even to weaken the connexion with the parent State. 
I am personally acquainted with almost all the leaders of that 
party, and there are among them some of the most loyal men in 
the Province. But Mr. Papineau is not, I believe, and I am confi- 
dent will not be one of the persons chosen to form the new Execu- 
tive Council of the Province. I am of opinion that he will not 
even take a seat in the Assembly for either of the two constituen- 
cies which have returned him, because of some grave differences of 
political opinions which he and the majority severally hold. 
Neither do I believe, as has been insinuated, that Lord Elgin has 
intherto done anything to discourage that majority from placing 
confidence in his Excellency. Their strength is now great enough 
to enable them to carry through the Assembly every measure for 
the good of the Province which they may propose, and I have such 
confidence in their disposition and their judgment that I do not 
fear they will offer any other. To this I will add that I am not a 
supporter of this party, and never have been ; and I would be 
better pleased if the other party had such a majority as these now 
have. But as I have no doubt of our connexion with the parent 
State being safe in the keeping of either party, I am not displeased 
with the late change. In one point of view I am rather pleased 
with it, because I am confident that with the power which the 
present majority have they will, during the present Parliament, 
prove that it is not separation they desire, but fair play in working 
out the true principles of responsible government, which are now 
much better understood in Canada than they were when the breach 
was made between Lord Metcalfe and his Executive Council. 

" Should these my opinions be well founded, time will soon show 
that this party is as loyal as their rivals ; and then the British 
people will cease to look upon us in Canada as disloyal, or even 
discontented ; and they will cease to offend or insult us by the 
continued expression, through the press, of their doubts, their fears 



A VETERAN OF 1812. 

and suspicions of our loyalty. The reality of this loyalty will 
soon, I am confident, be placed above suspicion ; and our affections 
for our relatives and connexions at home, and our good-will to our 
fellow-subjects at large, may be freely and mutually cultivated, 
although we be separated from each other by the broad Atlantic. 

' ' Neither have I many fears, after the long experience of the 
past, that the Colonial Ministers in England will err much here- 
after in dealing with us. They can now have no other motive 
or desire than to advance us in prosperity ; which prosperity, 
however, being now chiefly dependent upon our own care and 
management, should we fail to secure it, we must blame our own 
representatives, and not Karl Grey or his successors here in 
England. 

"I have resided in Canada, and in every city in it, east and west, 
for more than forty-five years, and few men have had such good 
opportunities of knowing its people as I have had ; and few can 
feel a mot e ardent wish for their prosperity and happiness than I 
do ; and I look to the future for all the British Provinces with the 
most cheering and confiding hope. 

' ' I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

" James FitzGibbon, 
" Late Colonel of the 1st Regt. of Toronto Militia. 

"London, Monday, February 21st, 1848." 



NOTES. 



It has been suggested to me that the question of what became of 
the five acres of land mentioned in Chapter X. as still retained by 
FitzGibbon, may be asked, as I have not referred in any way to its 
being sold or otherwise disposed of. 

FitzGibbon's many friends, both in Canada and in England, 
having faith in his integrity and confidence in the ultimate sanc- 
tion of the Government being obtained to the grant of land or its 
equivalent, lent him money, either personally or by endorsing notes 
for him, in order to relieve him from the annoyance of small debts, 
duns from the actual butcher and baker of daily life. Upon the 
failure of the grant, the remnant of his property, with the excep- 
tion of a small lot, was sold to help to repay these generous loans. 
This lot was claimed by his heirs, and sold to the city corporation. 
Part of it extended across the roadway of Brock Street, south-east 
of Queen Street. 



From an autograph letter of FitzGibbon's, now in the possession 
of Dr. Coleman, of Belleville, Ontario, I learn that some of the 
dragoons who appeared so opportunely under Captain Hall at Beaver 
Dam, were men from a corps raised by Colonel Coleman soon after 
the outbreak of the war. The letter is an instance of FitzGibbon 
recommending one who had just claims upon the Government, for 
a position which might serve as a reward for services rendered to 
his country. 



Personal and Press Comments 



ON THE FIRST EDITION OF 



A VETERAN OF J 8 12. 



"A brief but stirring biography." — London Times. 

" An interesting and valuable biography." — Montreal Witness. 

" Enjoyable reading from cover to cover. . . . Rich in movement and 
color."- Quebec Chronicle. 

Your book is not only a loving tribute to a patriotic soldier, but a very inter- 
esting history also of Canada at an important period." — Extract from letter from 
Lady Tupper, 97 Cromwell Road, London. 

" I shall read it with great interest, for I look upon Col. FitzGibbon as one of 
our most famous Canadian heroes, and every Canadian should remember his name 
with respect and gratitude." — Col. Geo. T. Denison. 

" Fathers can put into the hand of a son few books that teach more striking 
lessons of loyalty to allegiance, fidelity to trust, and fearless devotion to duty 
than the life of Colonel FitzGibbon." — Peterboro' Examiner. 

" So meritorious that we may express the hope thac the writer will continue 
and enlarge her researches, and produce a general history of that period, 
possessed of the same charm as her biography." — Toronto Globe. 

" It not only sketches in sufficient detail the events in the life of the subject, 
but it leaves the reader with a good impression of the personality of the man and 
a good general background of the times in which he lived and the events in which 
he bore a part."— Buffalo Illustrated Express. 

" The whole career of FitzGibbon is worthy of record for the lesson it conveys. 
We know no better narrative to incite youth to act honestly and unselfishly, 
and to exercise that difficult duty of abnegation or self-control than the career 
which is traced in these pages." — Montreal Gazette. 

" The book deserves to be widely read. We would recommend it to parents for 
home reading, as well as to Sunday Schools and public libraries. It will take its 
place as one of the most important and most readable of the contribut ons yet 
made to our Canadian biographic and historic literature. An inspiring example 
of patriotism." — Christian Guardian. 

"We have made with extreme pleasure the acquaintance of 'A Veteran of 
1812.' The lady who has written the book omits to state her relationship to the 
subject ; whatever it be, she has related the career of James FitzGibbon very 
well, and done justice to a man who deserved it. Exceedingly interesting, . . 
\vell told and deserves to be read," — Athenceum, London, England, 



" Miss FitzGibbon has succeeded in writing a thoroughly connected and interest- 
ing account of a man whose personality was sufficiently pronounced, and whose 
courage, integrity and singleness of purpose were strong enough to leave an 
impression on his time. . . . The work contains many illustrations, and is 
one of deep interest to all students of Canadian history." — Journal Royal 
Colonial Institute, London, England. 

" I wish you were here to realize the delight my little mother (Mrs. Seymour, 
nee Powell, aged 93) is experiencing from 'The Veteran.' Your grandfather's 
likeness charmed her ; she thinks it so good, and as she reads it seems like 
renewing her youth. I suspect I will not be the only one to thank you very 
heartily and sincerely for all your hard work, for it must have been laborious, 
even though a labor of love."— Extract from letter from Miss Seymour, Ottawa, 
Ont. 

"I was in the middle of Wolseley's 'Marlborough' when the 'Veteran' 
arrived, and I set to work at him at once, and never left off till I had got to the 
last line of your errata. ... I congratulate you on your performance. It is 
excellent, well sustained throughout ; gives a real and characteristic idea of the 
old man, and gives a pleasant notion of the writer, too, as an unaffected, inarti- 
ficial, sincere and not altogether book -making biographer."— Extract from Letter 
from Hon. Gerald FitzGibbon, Lord Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ireland. 

"I have greatly enjoyed reading your new and bright volume entitled, 'A 
Veteran of 1812.' Although the name of Lieut. FitzGibbon, of 1813, your grand- 
father, is a household name among the old families of this historic district, we yet 
needed such pages as yours to know his true greatness among his kindred and 
for his country. . . . Your book is in memoriam indeed, and is, better still, 
more instructive, more durable than granite column. I am therefore glad that 
it is now given to the public of Canada, and especially of this Province. Its 
pages are full of splendid lessons to our people of every class and age."— Extract 
from Letter from Rev. Canon Rull. 

"I have read 'A Veteran of 1812' through from cover to cover, including the 
appendices. As a Canadian I thank you for this valuable accession to Canadian 
literature. It fills a gap that required the filling up by someone who would take 
the trouble to closely investigate the events of the time. I well remember the 
events of 1837 so far as Toronto was concerned, and can say that you have 
described them with much accuracy, and, I may add, in a felicitous manner. . . 
To your grandfather, in my opinion, belongs the credit of having saved Toronto- 
others were willing to profit by Colonel FitzGibbon's exertions."— Extract from 
Letter from D. B. Read, Esq., Q.C., author of " Life of Sir Isaac Brock, K.B." 

" Such fearless, simple-hearted men as Colonel FitzGibbon, the hero of this 
plain, unvarnished tale, saved Canada in her hour of peril. Canada was too 
entirely handed over to the time-serving politician to do them fitting honor in 
their lifetime ; and it is consoling to know that a more grateful generation of 
Canadians has arisen to keep alive the memory of those who fought for Canada's 
right to live under British institutions when there was serious fighting to be done. 
The authoress of the present volume does not disclose her relationship to her 
hero, but she has compiled this biographical narrative with loving zeal, and 
everyone who cares for Canada's past will thank her."— Canadian Gazette, 
London, England. 






■I A 




\~&. 



m 



«;V 






.Cp K. 



■s-. 



<* 



^ 




1 









<5* 

w O .. <0 




^ * 













^ 




V 






^ 



t ,L J>L* °o 






,* 



<^v 









4* o 



" ° ♦ ^ 



r<>* .' 


















